Ethereum has scheduled its Glamsterdam upgrade to be activated on the Sepolia test network at 13:53:36 on October 6th UTC. This means that its next major scaling plan will be progressed in public network tests, followed by deployment on the mainnet.

• Ethereum will activate Glamsterdam at Sepolia on October 6th at 13:53:36 UTC. No date has been scheduled yet for the mainnet activation.
• Glamsterdam added a protocol layer, proposer-builder, separation, and a block access list, aiming to support a higher Layer-1 throughput.
• Sepolia Node operators must update the execution layer and consensus layer clients before the planned network activation.
• Price changes of Gas may disrupt contracts that rely on fixed subsidies, hardcoded restrictions, or assumptions of gas.
• Hoodi is still under discussion at present, tentatively set for October 27th, but the developers have not yet confirmed its activation.

The Ethereum Foundation stated that Glamsterdam will be activated on epoch at 353,024, and slot at 11,296,768. The activation dates for Hoodi and the mainnet are still undecided, which means that the event on October 6th only applies to Sepolia.

This upgrade combines two sets of changes: Amsterdam at the execution layer and Gloas at the consensus layer. Some of the major new additions have changed the way blocks are constructed, the way validators check blocks, and the way clients handle states during transaction processing.

Node operators on Sepolia need to install compatible versions of the execution layer and consensus layer software before activation. Ordinary ETH holders, as well as Ethereum mainnet users, do not need to take any action regarding this Sepolia upgrade.

How will Glamsterdam help Ethereum to scale more easily?

Glamsterdam introduced what is known as ePBS, a "embedded proposer-builder separation", through EIP-7732. This change directly incorporates the relationship between block proposers and professional block builders into the Ethereum protocol.

Currently, block builders typically construct and execute the workload, and communicate with verifiers through external infrastructure. Under the ePBS mechanism, proposers incorporate the builders' commitments to execute the workload, after which the builders disclose the complete workload.

The Ethereum protocol then handles the payments between builders and proposers. The Ethereum Foundation states that this structure reduces reliance on trusted intermediaries for payments to block builders, while also separating consensus verification from execution verification.

Since the consensus check and the execution check are conducted separately, verifiers have more time to verify the execution load. A load timeliness committee will determine whether the builder disclosed their load and related blob data within the required time.

Glamsterdam will also introduce another important component through EIP-7928, which is the block-level access list. This list records which accounts and storage locations are used in a particular block, as well as the state changes resulting from transactions.

Ethereum developers stated that this enables clients to read the state from disk and process some transaction verifications in parallel, while also making the root state calculation more efficient. The official roadmap describes Glamsterdam as an upgrade aimed at preparing Ethereum for an increase in Layer-1 capacity.

As previously reported by crypto.news, Ethereum developers were originally targeting the Sepolia fork on October 6th, while private devnet testing continued. At that time, this date was initially regarded as a conditional arrangement, as developers were still working to fix consensus and execution layer vulnerabilities discovered during early tests.

The date of Sepolia on October 6th has now been confirmed.

Thereafter, the schedule for the public test network has progressed beyond this preliminary phase. The minutes of Ethereum's meeting on September 21st, All Core Developers Testing, indicate that Sepolia was confirmed to be activated on October 6th, and epoch at 353,024 and 13:53:36 UTC.

On September 23, the Ethereum Execution Specification team released the first mainnet fixture release that included changes marked with Amsterdam. Developers stated that this suite was launched after conducting an in-depth review of the 15 execution layer EIP items contained within Glamsterdam.

Before the fork, client versions were also being released one after another. For example, Go Ethereum 1.17.6 explicitly includes the Sepolia Amsterdam activation timestamp, and requires Sepolia node operators to upgrade by October 6th.

Besu released version 26.9.0 on September 25th, while Nethermind 2.0.0 was launched earlier this month. The foundation's current release list includes compatible execution layer clients, such as Besu 26.9.0, Erigon 3.7.0, go-ethereum 1.17.6, Nethermind 2.0.0, and Reth 2.7.0.

In terms of the consensus layer, the listed Sepolia versions include Lodestar 1.49.0, Prysm 7.2.0, and Teku 26.9.1. As various teams complete their compatibility work, it is expected that more client versions will be released in the future.

Prysm Operators also face an additional configuration detail. Prysm After activation, 7.2.0 uses a default limit of 60 million gas. Verifiers who wish to propose blocks with a limit of 200 million gas need to configure this setting through the updated proposer control item.

Glamsterdam How to change Ethereum's gas billing

This upgrade not only affects block construction. Several EIP elements included in it will adjust Ethereum's gas accounting method to better match the resources consumed during contract creation or access.

EIP-8037 aims to increase and separately measure the cost of state creation, while EIP-8038 aims to change the cost of state access. Other proposals will also adjust the costs of transactions gas, calldata, access lists, as well as block-level gas accounting.

Therefore, application developers need to test their contracts under the new rules. The Ethereum Foundation warns that applications that rely on fixed gas subsidies, hardcode gas restrictions, or depend on assumptions about the remaining gas during execution may need to be modified.

Earlier tests had already demonstrated the importance of this process. As reported by crypto.news, devnet from Glamsterdam identified vulnerabilities related to the finality of consensus and the implementation of EIP-8037, which prompted the client team to continue testing before confirming a public fork.

Ethereum even launched a temporary test network named Plat å berget in August, to give developers more time to test the behavior of Glamsterdam. The foundation warned that software that relies on hardcoded maximum gas limits, including some wallets, indexers, and gas estimators, may encounter errors if not updated.

What will happen after Ethereum Sepolia is upgraded?

If Sepolia performs as expected, Hoodi is anticipated to become the next public testing phase. The developer meeting minutes set October 27th as a tentative goal for Hoodi, and a discussion on whether to proceed will be arranged after Sepolia is activated. However, the foundation has not yet officially scheduled Hoodi.

The mainnet currently does not have an activation date set yet. Ethereum.org has tentatively scheduled Glamsterdam for the fourth quarter of 2026, with a clear note that the date is still to be confirmed.

The Ethereum Foundation has opened its bug bounty program to the Glamsterdam specification and the EIP specification. As compatible versions are officially incorporated, client implementations will also become eligible, providing another pathway for security researchers to report issues before deployment on the mainnet.

After Glamsterdam, the Ethereum roadmap will shift towards Hegot in 2027. The next fork is expected to encompass another set of protocol changes, while developers will continue to advance longer-term plans, including native account abstraction, stronger cryptographic verification, and quantum-resistant infrastructure.

In related reports, Vitalik Buterin indicates that Hegot may become the last upgrade of Ethereum that still appears to be a traditional fork. After that, development will increasingly shift towards recursive STARK, automated verification, privacy, and redesigned consensus systems.

The Ethereum protocol team has also set a goal to achieve quantum resistance by December 2029, covering the execution layer, consensus layer, and data layer. The roadmap currently includes work related to this longer-term transition, although many individual proposals are still under review. Hegot

As for Glamsterdam, the next fixed milestone is the activation of Sepolia at 13:53:36 on October 6th UTC. Node operators running Sepolia must install compatible execution layer and consensus layer clients before activation; otherwise, their nodes will no longer comply with the upgraded network rules.