On October 16, the Ethereum Foundation announced that the Glamsterdam upgrade plan was activated on the Hoodi testnet at 17:42:48 (UTC) on October 26, corresponding to epoch 132352 and slot 4235264; at the same time, the upper limit on gas of Hoodi was increased to 200 million. The foundation emphasized that this announcement only applies to the testnet, and the activation time for the mainnet has not yet been determined. Referring to "scheduled Hoodi tests" as "Ethereum mainnet has been upgraded" could directly mislead readers about the risks and progress, and may also cause node operators to miss the necessary preparatory work that needs to be carried out.
The reason this test has received attention is that it touches on the methods of block production and verification. The key points listed by the officials include the separation of proposers from builders within the protocol ( ePBS ), a block-level access list, and the re-pricing of gas and the cost associated with state growth. These changes are not merely simple parameter adjustments; they will affect the responsibilities of verifiers, the way client processing is carried out, and the cost assumptions of smart contracts. The Sepolia test network was activated on October 6th according to the official schedule, and Hoodi is the next stage of verification; it should not be regarded as the end of the release process.
Hoodi What needs to be verified, who needs to update the client?
In the existing Ethereum ecosystem, there is a complex coordination process between block proposers and builders. ePBS attempts to codify this division of labor into the protocol: proposers first incorporate the builders' commitments to execute the payload, followed by the builders disclosing the payload, and then the protocol handles the payments to the proposers. The Ethereum Foundation explains that this can reduce reliance on trusted intermediary software and provide a clearer timeline for both the consensus verification layer and the execution layer. However, correct mechanism design does not guarantee that there will be no compatibility issues after deployment, and it is precisely the role of the test network to expose such issues in advance.
The block-level access list ( BAL ) records the accounts that are accessed during the operation of a block, the storage locations, as well as the state changes after transactions. Officials believe that this information can help clients read the state in parallel, verify transactions concurrently, and calculate the state root more efficiently, thereby providing a foundation for expanding execution capacity. The term "can help" here refers to a technical approach, not an announcement that the mainnet's throughput has doubled. The actual benefits also depend on client implementation, node hardware, network propagation, and the composition of real transactions. Developers should pay particular attention to whether changes in access patterns affect the gas estimates of existing contracts.
In the announcement, the foundation provided a compatibility version table for both the consensus layer and execution layer clients of Hoodi. It was also stated that versions that have not yet been confirmed will be added gradually. Node operators must update both the execution and consensus clients simultaneously, while validators need to check the new responsibilities of ePBS and build the necessary infrastructure. The fact that some clients in the table do not have a confirmed version for the time being does not mean they are permanently excluded; rather, it indicates that operators cannot assume compatibility based on the name or old version numbers. Before the upgrade window, it is essential to refer to the release notes for each client and the official list.
The upper limit for Hoodi's gas has been set to 200 million, which is consistent with the test settings for Sepolia. An increase in the upper limit for gas means that the test environment can accommodate larger block execution budgets, but it does not guarantee that the mainnet will launch with the same parameters, nor does it mean that all transaction fees will immediately decrease. The final outcome will be determined by a combination of block demand, pricing rules, client capacity, and security margins. When facing headlines like "Increase in Test Network Upper Limit," one should first ask which network it applies to, when it will take effect, and whether it has already taken effect, rather than immediately calculating the token price.
The mainnet is still pending; the application layer should proactively assess cost assumptions in advance.
Glamsterdam includes multiple resource pricing adjustments, with the goal of making state creation, state access, and data usage more in line with their actual costs. For some contracts that rely on fixed gas subsidies, hardcoded transaction limits, or specific remaining gas behaviors, upgrades may lead to unexpected failures. The foundation recommends that developers refer to their re-pricing impact guidelines and test related functions on Sepolia and Hoodi. Especially for wallets, bridges, transaction protocols, and infrastructure services, tests should include failure rollback, exception logging, and user notifications, not just whether a single transaction can be successful.
Mainnet users currently do not need to take any action due to this Hoodi announcement. Holders of tokens do not need to transfer their tokens to any so-called “upgrade addresses,” nor should they believe in “migration tools” that require the import of mnemonic phrases. The upgrade of the Ethereum network is completed collaboratively by nodes and clients according to public rules; it is not a process where holders move their assets to new contracts. Once messages from the testnet are misinterpreted, scammers often use the timeline to create a sense of urgency. Therefore, the official statement that “the mainnet date is yet to be determined” is both a technical fact and a safety reminder.
For ecological observers, the following milestones should be tracked in a tiered manner: Hoodi should be activated on time, all client versions should be available, validators and build tools should run stably during testing, and any issues discovered should be fixed before discussing the mainnet launch. Each step may require adjustments, and the plan should not be regarded as a completed result. The foundation stated in its announcement that the mainnet timeline will be decided and announced separately by the client team, which provides a clear source for verification of subsequent updates.
The real signal conveyed by this announcement is that Glamsterdam has once again advanced to a verifiable stage towards the mainnet. Its importance lies in providing verifiers and developers with a specific testing schedule, rather than allowing the market to prematurely declare the upgrade a success. The results of Hoodi operations, client compatibility, and application layer testing will be more indicative of whether this round of protocol changes is ready to move on to the next step than merely a countdown.
Source: Official announcement from the Ethereum Foundation on October 16, 2026 https :// blog.ethereum.org /2026/10/16/ glamsterdam-hoodi-announcement; Official Ethereum upgrade notes https :// ethereum.org / roadmap / glamsterdam /.
