Ethereum developers are preparing the Glamsterdam upgrade for its next test phase, with activation on the Hoodi network scheduled for October 26 at epoch 132,352 and slot 4,235,264. As part of that rollout, the network gas limit on Hoodi is set to increase to 200 million.
Glamsterdam combines changes to Ethereum’s execution and consensus layers. The package is designed to improve base-layer throughput, refine block validation, and update how gas costs reflect resource use and state growth, while a separate announcement is still expected for any eventual mainnet deployment.
What Glamsterdam includes
The upgrade merges the Amsterdam execution-layer changes with the Gloas consensus-layer changes into a single release. Its headline additions are protocol-level separation of block building and proposing, known as ePBS, and block-level data access lists, or BAL.
Under ePBS, block proposers and block builders take on more clearly separated roles at the protocol level. The change is intended to coordinate their interaction and payments, reduce dependence on intermediaries, and give validators more time to verify execution before blocks are finalized.
BAL introduces access lists that record which accounts and storage slots are touched while a block is processed and state changes are applied. According to the plan, that should support parallel data reads, speed up transaction verification, and make state root computation more efficient.
Gas and protocol rule changes
Glamsterdam also changes Ethereum’s gas accounting through EIPs 8037 and 8038. Those proposals are meant to better reflect actual resource consumption and the cost of state growth, rather than leaving older pricing assumptions in place.
The package includes several additional protocol adjustments. These include Ethereum transfer logs, a new opcode for retrieving slot numbers, support for larger smart contracts, and updated operating rules for validators.
Who needs to prepare on testnets
The Hoodi activation mainly affects network operators and developers working on Ethereum infrastructure or applications. Operators are expected to update both execution-layer and consensus-layer clients ahead of activation and check whether their tooling remains compatible with the new block production requirements.
Developers are being directed to test against the updated Sepolia and Hoodi environments. They are also expected to review how the revised gas accounting could affect contracts, especially where code relies on fixed gas limits or assumptions about remaining gas during execution.
What happens next
Ethereum’s mainnet timeline for Glamsterdam has not been set in this announcement. The foundation said the mainnet upgrade will be announced separately, meaning the October 26 event is limited to Hoodi testing rather than a production-network rollout.
For mainnet users and asset holders, no action is required in connection with the Hoodi launch. Ethereum had already opened an earlier testing stage in August, when the Platåberget testnet went live to trial Glamsterdam before this next scheduled activation.
Source: incrypted.com