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Ethereum Schedules Glamsterdam Upgrade Test on Hoodi Network

Developers target October 26 for Glamsterdam testing with a 200 million gas limit increase.

NewsBTC2 min

1Glamsterdam Testing Milestone

Ethereum developers have scheduled the Glamsterdam upgrade for the Hoodi test network on October 26 at 17:42:48 UTC. This activation occurs at epoch 132,352 and slot 4,235,264. This follows the October 6 deployment on the Sepolia testnet, providing a critical environment to verify software compatibility before considering a mainnet launch date.

2Gas Limit Expansion

The Hoodi testnet will implement a 200 million gas limit as part of this upgrade cycle. While this represents a significant engineering milestone, it does not guarantee that mainnet capacity will immediately quadruple. The test serves to observe how the network handles these increased limits under real operating conditions for validators.

3Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation

A core component of Glamsterdam is the implementation of enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS. This change integrates the relationship between block proposers and builders directly into the Ethereum protocol. By moving this function on-chain, the network reduces its reliance on external arrangements, aiming for a more robust and decentralized block production process.

4Parallel Block Processing

The upgrade introduces block-level access lists to improve network efficiency. These lists are designed to allow clients to process and validate specific parts of a block in parallel. This architectural shift aims to streamline execution performance, enabling nodes to handle data more effectively as the network continues to scale its operations.

5Gas Accounting Adjustments

Glamsterdam modifies how Ethereum accounts for gas, specifically regarding state creation and access costs. These changes are highly relevant for application developers who build contracts or tools based on fixed gas cost assumptions. Developers must evaluate how these new accounting mechanisms impact their existing smart contract logic and overall gas consumption patterns.

6Validator Technical Requirements

Validators and node operators participating on the Hoodi network must ensure their execution and consensus clients are fully compatible before the activation. Failure to update software could lead to synchronization issues during the transition. The Ethereum Foundation emphasizes that this testing phase is essential for identifying potential bugs before mainnet implementation.

7Mainnet Deployment Status

Despite the progress on testnets like Hoodi and Sepolia, the Ethereum Foundation has not yet announced a specific date for the mainnet activation of Glamsterdam. Mainnet users are currently not required to take any action. The focus remains strictly on engineering validation and ensuring the protocol changes behave as expected during testing.

8Strategic Protocol Evolution

The Glamsterdam upgrade represents a calculated step in Ethereum's long-term roadmap to optimize block production and execution costs. By rigorously testing ePBS and access lists, developers aim to refine the network's core architecture. These incremental updates are vital for maintaining protocol stability while simultaneously preparing the infrastructure for future scalability and performance improvements.

Original article: NewsBTC — Ethereum Schedules Glamsterdam Upgrade Test on Hoodi Network