Ethereum's Glamsterdam Upgrade Gets Public Test Network
Ethereum's next major upgrade is approaching, and node operators are getting ready. A public test network called Platåberget was launched on August 13 to rehearse the coordinated execution- and consensus-client upgrade known as Glamsterdam.
The test network allows node operators to practice with client software, staking setups, builders, and infrastructure. The largest architectural change is EIP-7732, which separates consensus-block validation from execution-payload validation and introduces a Payload Timeliness Committee.
This design expands the critical path for validators, giving them around nine seconds to validate payloads. Operators need to exercise builder onboarding, payload timing, and fork-choice behavior under the new division of duties. The test network also includes tools for testing block-level access lists that record accounts and storage locations touched by a block.
The Glamsterdam upgrade is expected to improve performance and scalability. However, teams need to recheck hardcoded subcall gas, cached estimates, refund-dependent flows, and workloads that create accounts or storage.