Ethereum Prepares Glamsterdam Upgrade with Key Network Changes
Ethereum is gearing up for its next major upgrade, Glamsterdam, which will bring several significant changes to the network. Scheduled to activate on the Sepolia testnet on October 6, Glamsterdam will introduce proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists, and new gas pricing.
Proposer-builder separation will move the handoff between specialized block builders and validators into Ethereum's protocol, reducing reliance on outside middleware. Block-level access lists will record the accounts and storage locations used during each block, while the new gas pricing mechanism will better reflect the cost of creating and accessing data on Ethereum.
Developers have not set dates for Glamsterdam's rollout on the validator-focused testnet Hoodi or on mainnet. However, they are targeting 2027 for Hegotá, the upgrade expected to follow Glamsterdam. Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum co-founder, mentioned that Hegotá could be the network's last 'normal' fork before development shifts toward recursive STARKs, automated formal verification, optimized consensus, and quantum-safe cryptography.