Glamsterdam is heading into the home stretch: what awaits Ethereum after the major hard fork
The Ethereum network is entering a decisive phase of its evolution. The upgrade codenamed Glamsterdam has officially moved into its final development stage. Currently, all planned Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) are undergoing comprehensive testing before the launch of public testnets. The exact activation date for the mainnet has not yet been set, but based on my estimates, considering the current pace, deployment should be expected in the second half of 2026.
The Largest Upgrade Since The Merge
Glamsterdam is not an ordinary update. One of the leading developers at the Ethereum Foundation described it as likely the most significant hard fork since the transition to Proof-of-Stake in 2022. And this is no exaggeration. The package of changes includes three critical components, each of which could radically alter the network's economy and performance.
The key element is the implementation of ePBS (EIP-7732), a mechanism that separates the responsibilities for proposing and building blocks. This will address the long-standing issue of centralization in the MEV ecosystem and enhance the network's resistance to censorship. The second crucial element is Block-level Access Lists (EIP-7928). This innovation optimizes client operations, reducing the load on disk storage and accelerating node synchronization.
Revising Gas Economics
However, in my opinion, the most significant change for ordinary users will be a large-scale revision of transaction costs. Although the exact details of the gas limit rebalancing have not yet been disclosed, it is clear that the team aims to reduce fees for certain types of transactions without compromising network security. This could serve as a powerful catalyst for the DeFi and NFT sectors, which have suffered from high interaction costs over the past two years.
My analysis: Glamsterdam is not just a technical update, but a strategic step by Ethereum towards second-layer scalability. The separation of validator and block builder roles, combined with optimized data access, lays the foundation for the future growth of the ecosystem. If the team manages to implement everything as planned without major delays, by 2027 we will see an Ethereum capable of processing transactions with throughput comparable to centralized payment systems, while maintaining decentralization.