Ethereum Glamsterdam Upgrade Heads Toward 200M Gas Limit Roadmap
TL;DR
- Ethereum upgrade work in Glamsterdam is progressing through development planning ahead of a mainnet window planned for the second half of 2026.
- EIP-7732, or enshrined proponent-builder separation, is one of the key elements being followed by developers.
- EIP-7928, covering block-level access lists, is another major component related to parallel execution and higher throughput.
- The main goal is a path to a much higher gas limit, but the exact mainnet package remains subject to Ethereum’s normal testing and governance process.
Glamsterdam becomes a priority
Ethereum’s next major upgrade cycle now turns to Glamsterdam, a protocol package expected to define the network’s scaling and block production roadmap after Pectra. The upgrade is being closely watched because it hits two of Ethereum’s biggest long-standing constraints: who builds the blocks and how much execution capacity the base layer can safely support.
Developer materials and EIP discussions indicate that separation of proponents and builders and block-level access lists are two of the most important elements of the Glamsterdam conversation. Together, they help chart a longer-term path to higher throughput without simply asking each node operator to absorb more load without structural changes.
What ePBS is trying to fix
EIP-7732, commonly described as an enshrined separation between the proponent and builder, would displace some of the current external block construction market in Ethereum’s protocol design. Today, the construction of blocks often depends on external relay infrastructures and specialized players. This system helped the network manage maximum extractable value, but it also raised concerns about centralization and censorship pressure.
By moving the proposer-constructor separation closer to the protocol layer, Ethereum developers are attempting to reduce the reliance on off-protocol arrangements and create a clearer separation between validators proposing blocks and the constructors who assemble them. This is a technical change, but it also speaks directly to Ethereum’s decentralization goals.
Why block-level access lists are important
EIP-7928, covering block-level access lists, aims to make execution more predictable by identifying block-level state access patterns. In plain English, validators and clients could get better information about what a block should touch before processing it. This is important because parallel execution is difficult when the system does not know which transactions are likely to conflict.
If block-level access lists work as expected, they could help Ethereum process more activity without turning each block into a heavier, less predictable load on nodes. This is why the proposal is often discussed alongside higher gas limit targets and a broader L1 scale.
200 million gas limit makes headlines
The most interesting part of the Glamsterdam story is the potential path to a 200 million gas limit. This would represent a major increase over the current base layer capacity and would represent a very different Ethereum L1 if it could be achieved securely. But the wording is important: this is a roadmap and testing goal, not a guarantee that every detail is locked down for the mainnet exactly as outlined in the current development documents.
Ethereum upgrades typically go through a lengthy process of specification, client implementation, devnets, testnets, and final coordination. This process is slow by design. Glamsterdam is important because it shows that the network is still trying to evolve the base layer itself, and not just pushing activity towards rollups. The risk is that aggressively increasing capacity without careful work by clients and nodes could weaken the decentralization properties that Ethereum is trying to protect.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
