Ethereum Tests 200 Million Gas Limit in Next Major Scaling Push

Ethereum's next major scaling push is taking shape with the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade, which aims to increase the network's execution capacity. Scheduled for activation on Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6 at 13:53:36 UTC, Glamsterdam will introduce changes that lay the groundwork for higher Layer 1 throughput.

The upgrade combines the Amsterdam execution upgrade with Gloas on the consensus layer and introduces enshrined proposer-builder separation alongside block-level access lists, which allow clients to parallelize state reads and transaction validation. However, simply installing compatible software will not necessarily move Sepolia toward the 200 million gas preference scheduled for the test.

Prysm 7.2.0 and Teku 26.9.1 both support Glamsterdam but will continue using a 60 million gas preference after activation unless validators explicitly change their settings, according to the Ethereum Foundation. Validators must opt in if Ethereum wants a meaningful 200 million test. A higher block gas limit allows more aggregate computation to fit into each block, creating room for more transactions and high-demand applications such as decentralized exchanges and other DeFi protocols.

The distinction turns Sepolia into a coordination test for Ethereum's effort to substantially expand Layer 1 capacity. Ethereum has already been moving in that direction, with its block gas limit beginning to rise from 30 million toward 36 million in February 2025. However, 200 million should not be interpreted as an automatic new gas limit, and blocks remain valid whether their gas limit sits above or below the scheduled value.