Ethereum enters the final phase of the Glamsterdam hard fork: what will change for the network and users
Ethereum developer teams have moved to the final testing phase of the major Glamsterdam upgrade. So-called devnets—early test environments that already contain the full set of planned Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs)—are now being launched. This is the last "dress rehearsal" before the public testnet and subsequent mainnet deployment.
Ethereum Foundation engineers, including lead DevOps specialist Paritosh Jayanthi, have confirmed that the codebase is undergoing final refinement. All proposed changes have been bundled into a single package and are being tested in isolated networks. Exact activation dates have not yet been announced, but in my estimation, the most likely window is the second half of 2026. Several independent analysts point to the end of August as a potential target, which seems realistic given the current development pace.
Glamsterdam: The Most Ambitious Upgrade Since The Merge
The Glamsterdam hard fork is arguably the largest Ethereum upgrade since the transition to proof-of-stake (PoS) in 2022. Jayanthi directly calls it "probably the largest hard fork since The Merge." And this is no exaggeration. The upgrade lays the foundation for the network's future scaling and fundamentally changes several core mechanisms.
Key Changes: ePBS, Access Lists, and a New Gas Economy
The main innovation is the built-in separation of block proposer and transaction builder roles (ePBS, EIP-7732). Currently, this process partially relies on external services, creating centralization risks and potential points for MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) manipulation. Moving this mechanism into the protocol core will significantly enhance network decentralization and security.
The second important proposal is block-level access lists (EIP-7928). This technology allows clients to preload information about which accounts and smart contracts a block will access. The result is faster, more predictable, and easier-to-optimize transaction execution.
Finally, Glamsterdam includes a major reassessment of gas costs. According to developers, high-level computations will become cheaper, while state operations will become more expensive. The goal is to more accurately reflect real resource consumption and simplify scaling through zero-knowledge proof (ZK-proof) systems. Teams are currently focused on testing and explaining the implications of this recalibration to the community.
My comment: Glamsterdam is not just another update. It is a strategic move that makes Ethereum more resistant to centralization and prepares the ground for mass adoption of layer-2 solutions. Investors and developers should closely monitor developments: a successful Glamsterdam launch could become a powerful catalyst for the entire ecosystem.