Ethereum Glamsterdam Upgrade Nears Testnet Debut as Open Interest Hits Milestones

The Ethereum ecosystem is gearing up for its Glamsterdam upgrade, which has entered its final pre-deployment phase. A testnet fork on Sepolia is scheduled for October 6, 2026, ahead of a mainnet rollout later this quarter.

Glamsterdam focuses on three key areas: optimizing execution efficiency, simplifying node syncing, and protecting network sustainability against database expansion.

One of the upgrade's core components is EIP-7928 (Block-Level Access Lists), which streamlines transaction processing and improves MEV handling.

Snap Sync v2 aims to make it easier for new validators to join the network by simplifying node syncing.

Ethereum's market structure is also showing signs of growth, with open interest on Hyperliquid surpassing that of Bitcoin. ETH open interest reached $3.02 billion compared to Bitcoin's $2.80 billion, indicating surging speculative and hedging demand.