Lead Ethereum developers have moved the Glamsterdam upgrade into its final development phase, with private development networks now testing the full suite of planned Ethereum improvement proposals.
Summary
- Ethereum developers are testing the Glamsterdam devnets with all planned EIPs before the public testnet deployment begins.
- The upgrade focuses on ePBS and block-level access lists to improve Layer 1 scaling capability.
- Glamsterdam is also changing the price of gas, making it cheaper to calculate while state storage costs increase for developers.
CoinDesk reported that the teams are managing developer networks that include all expected EIPs for the fork. The work comes ahead of code hardening, public deployment of the testnet, and a later mainnet date that has not yet been set.
The current phase allows customer teams to test the behavior of Glamsterdam in the full upgrade package before larger testnets go live. Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi said teams are working on devnets containing “all the EIPs right now.”
Jayanthi also said that there is “no set timeline” but that the developers have made “massive progress.” The upgrade is still expected in the second half of 2026, although the final timeline depends on testnet results and customer readiness.
Glamsterdam Leveling Centers on ePBS and Access Lists
Glamsterdam’s main proposals are separation between proposers and builders, known as ePBS, and block-level access lists. ePBS, listed as EIP-7732, moves the separation between block builders and block proposers in Ethereum’s main protocol.
This change aims to reduce trust in off-chain relays and make block construction more transparent. It also targets risks related to maximum extractable value, where the order of transactions can create unfair trading outcomes for users.
Block-level access lists, listed as EIP-7928, allow each block to show in advance which accounts and smart contract data it will use. This gives clients a clearer map before execution begins.
The goal is to make block processing faster and easier to optimize. Ethereum.org says BALs can help nodes preload data and process transactions in parallel when they don’t hit the same state.
Gas repricing adds another layer
Glamsterdam also includes gas repricing changes. Jayanthi said the update “will change the cost of actions on Ethereum,” adding that “high-level computing becomes cheaper and state more expensive.”
The change aims to more closely align fees with the resources used by different operations. This could change the way developers design contracts, especially when applications create or read large amounts of persistent state data.
As previously reported by crypto.news, Ethereum’s roadmap for 2026 placed Glamsterdam and Hegotá after earlier upgrades such as Pectra and Fusaka. These upgrades focused on validator performance, data capacity, and broader scaling work.
As crypto.news reported earlier, Fusaka’s testnet deployment was centered around PeerDAS and blob capability. Glamsterdam deepens the roadmap in Layer 1 execution and blocks production changes.
What Glamsterdam is changing
Glamsterdam is the next planned hard fork of Ethereum. It combines updates to the consensus layers and execution layers, with the name mixing Gloas and Amsterdam.
For regular ETH holders, the upgrade should not require changes to wallets or balances. Validators and node operators will need to install updated client software before mainnet activation.
Upgrading doesn’t just add functionality. This changes the way Ethereum creates blocks, prepares data for execution, and prices certain network actions.
Jayanthi described Glamsterdam as “probably the biggest fork we’ve had since the merger.” If testing remains stable, public testnets will be the next step before developers set a schedule for the mainnet.
