Ethereum’s upcoming network upgrade, known as Glamsterdam, is officially pushing forward across test environments. Following its successful activation on the Sepolia network on October 6, 2026, core developers have scheduled the upgrade for the Hoodi testnet. This milestone represents a critical step in advancing Ethereum’s layer-1 scaling roadmap, introducing major protocol changes designed to optimize block production, improve validation efficiency, and better align gas pricing with real-world execution costs and state growth.
The Glamsterdam upgrade is officially set to activate on the Hoodi testnet at epoch 132,352, corresponding to slot 4,235,264. The transition is scheduled for October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC. Alongside this activation, the Hoodi network’s gas limit will be increased to 200 million, mirroring the parameters previously established on Sepolia. While testnet deployments are moving forward rapidly, an official mainnet activation date has not yet been determined and will be announced by client teams once testing and stability metrics are fully evaluated.
To ensure a smooth transition, node operators running non-staking or staking infrastructure on Hoodi must update both their execution layer and consensus layer clients to compatible versions prior to the activation timestamp. Client teams are actively rolling out updated software releases, and operators are strongly advised to verify that their chosen builds explicitly support the Hoodi Glamsterdam activation before the upgrade takes place.
Glamsterdam Overview and Core Architecture
The Glamsterdam upgrade is a comprehensive network overhaul that combines the Amsterdam execution layer upgrade with the Gloas consensus layer upgrade. Together, these modifications represent a unified effort to address some of Ethereum’s most pressing architectural bottlenecks. The headlining features of the upgrade are enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists. These changes fundamentally alter how blocks are produced, broadcast, and validated, establishing a more robust foundation for scaling layer-1 throughput without compromising decentralization or overburdening node operators.
Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation
At the heart of the consensus layer changes is enshrined proposer-builder separation, introduced via EIP-7732. This protocol-level adjustment integrates the separation between block proposers and builders directly into Ethereum’s core consensus mechanism. Under this new framework, a block proposer includes a builder’s commitment to an execution payload within a slot, and the builder subsequently reveals the full payload. The protocol automatically handles payments from the builder to the proposer, significantly reducing the ecosystem’s reliance on trusted third-party middleware for managing the exchange between block producers and specialized builders.
Furthermore, this change decouples consensus validation from execution validation, granting validators significantly more time to thoroughly check execution payloads. A newly established payload timeliness committee is tasked with attesting to whether the builder successfully revealed its payload and whether the corresponding blob data was made available on time. Validator operators and engineering teams maintaining builder infrastructure are urged to review the updated duties, operational interfaces, and timing requirements well in advance of the network transition.
Block-Level Access Lists
To address execution bottlenecks, the upgrade introduces block-level access lists via EIP-7928. These enforced lists systematically record all accounts and storage locations accessed over the course of a block, alongside the resulting post-transaction state changes. By providing explicit visibility into state interactions upfront, client software can read required state data from disk in parallel, validate transactions simultaneously, and compute state roots with greater computational efficiency. Combined with enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists provide the architectural framework necessary to expand Ethereum’s execution capacity while keeping node operations practical.
Gas Pricing and State Growth
Glamsterdam also implements significant adjustments to gas accounting to ensure that resource pricing accurately reflects actual network usage and infrastructure costs. EIP-8037 increases and separately meters the cost associated with creating new state, while EIP-8038 updates general state-access costs. Additional refinements cover intrinsic transaction gas, calldata handling, access lists, and overall block gas accounting.
Application developers are encouraged to thoroughly test their smart contracts and gas estimation logic against these revised rules. Contracts that rely on fixed gas stipends, hardcoded gas limits, or assumptions regarding remaining gas may require adjustments to function properly under the new pricing structure. Comprehensive testing guidance and tools can be found in the community’s published repricing impact documentation.
Beyond these major architectural shifts, Glamsterdam incorporates several targeted developer and validator enhancements. These include native Ethereum transfer logs, a dedicated slot-number opcode, an increased maximum contract size limit, a deterministic factory contract, and new stack-manipulation instructions. Consensus-level improvements include forward-compatible data structures, the exclusion of slashed validators from proposing new blocks, and increased churn limits for validator exits and consolidations.
Security, Activation Schedules, and Client Releases
The Ethereum Bug Bounty Program remains fully active for all specifications, components, and Ethereum Improvement Proposals associated with Glamsterdam. Client implementations become eligible for bug bounty rewards as soon as their official releases are designated for network deployment. Developers and security researchers finding vulnerabilities are encouraged to review the official bug bounty documentation for reporting guidelines and reward multiplier structures.
The agreed deployment schedule places Sepolia activation at epoch 353,024 and slot 11,296,768, which occurred on October 6, 2026. Hoodi follows closely behind on October 26, 2026, at epoch 132,352. Mainnet activation remains to be scheduled. Hoodi-compatible client versions are currently being distributed across execution and consensus layer teams. Operators must ensure that both their beacon nodes and validator clients are updated simultaneously. Tooling such as commit-boost is also receiving updates to ensure full compatibility with the upgraded environment.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ethereum network upgrades rely on explicit, voluntary opt-in from node operators worldwide. Client developers coordinate protocol specifications, while validators and non-staking node operators update their software to adopt the new rules. Nodes that fail to update cannot process the upgraded chain after activation, making community-wide coordination essential for a successful transition.
For typical Ethereum mainnet users and everyday ETH holders, no direct action is required for this announcement, as the current schedule strictly applies to the Hoodi testnet. A separate announcement will be issued prior to any mainnet upgrade. Similarly, non-staking Hoodi node operators simply need to ensure both their execution and consensus clients are updated before the October 26 activation timestamp. Hoodi stakers must likewise update their beacon nodes and validator clients, paying close attention to new ePBS duties and updated gas limit configurations.
Application and tooling developers should review the scheduled EIPs, test their protocols on Sepolia and Hoodi following activation, and verify whether adjustments to gas accounting, opcodes, or logs impact their existing smart contracts. The naming convention for the upgrade follows established Ethereum traditions, combining Amsterdam, the host city of Devconnect 2022, with Gloas, adhering to the star-naming convention used for consensus layer updates.
Ethereum & Smart Contracts
Ethereum & Smart Contracts
Ethereum & Smart Contracts
