Ethereum Schedules Glamsterdam Upgrade for Hoodi Testnet Deployment
Glamsterdam introduces ePBS, block-level access lists, and revised gas pricing.
1Hoodi Activation Timeline
Following deployment on Sepolia on October 6, the Ethereum Foundation scheduled the Glamsterdam upgrade for the Hoodi testnet. Activation occurs at epoch 132,352 and slot 4,235,264 on October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC. Hoodi's gas limit will simultaneously increase to 200M, while the mainnet activation date remains unconfirmed.
2Dual Layer Integration
Glamsterdam merges the Amsterdam execution layer upgrade with the Gloas consensus layer upgrade to scale L1 throughput. Node operators must update execution and consensus clients, including beacon nodes and validator clients. Client releases include Besu 26.10.0 and Ethrex 30.0.0-rc.2, with bug bounty rewards active for specification implementations.
3Enshrining Proposer-Builder Separation
EIP-7732 embeds proposer-builder separation directly into Ethereum's consensus layer, replacing reliance on external trusted middleware. Block proposers include commitments to execution payloads that builders reveal later. The protocol handles payments automatically, decoupling consensus validation from execution validation to grant validators more time for block verification.
4Payload Timeliness Verification
Under EIP-7732, a dedicated payload timeliness committee attests whether the builder revealed the execution payload and corresponding blob data on schedule. This mechanism alters validator duties and builder infrastructure interfaces. Separating validation pipelines ensures that large execution workloads do not compromise consensus stability or block propagation.
5Parallel Execution Access Lists
EIP-7928 enforces block-level access lists that record accessed accounts, storage slots, and post-transaction state changes across entire blocks. These records allow execution clients to read state from disk concurrently and validate transactions in parallel. The mechanism streamlines state root computations without overwhelming individual node hardware.
6Gas Accounting and State Pricing
Glamsterdam restructures gas metering to accurately reflect state growth and resource costs. EIP-8037 increases and separately meters state creation costs, while EIP-8038 adjusts state-access fees. Additional changes modify block gas accounting, calldata costs, intrinsic transaction gas, and access lists across the entire execution layer.
7EVM and Consensus Enhancements
The upgrade introduces ETH transfer logs, a slot-number opcode, increased maximum contract size, deterministic factory contracts, and new stack-manipulation instructions. Consensus adjustments enforce forward-compatible data structures, exclude slashed validators from proposing, and increase exit and consolidation churn rates to streamline validator management during high churn periods.
8Developer Testing and Migration
Smart contract developers must audit applications against altered gas parameters before mainnet deployment. Contracts relying on fixed gas stipends, hardcoded limits, or static remaining gas assumptions require immediate code adjustments. Teams must review the official repricing impact guide to test affected contracts on the Hoodi testnet.