Ethereum's Glamsterdam Upgrade Tests 200M Gas Limit in Sepolia Testnet

Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade is moving forward, but it's not quite ready for the main stage. In a testnet environment called Sepolia, validators can now configure blocks to have a gas limit of 200 million, but this is not a confirmed setting for the main network. The Ethereum Foundation has confirmed that Prysm 7.2.0 and Teku 26.9.1 support the Glamsterdam fork on Sepolia, but these clients default to a 60 million gas limit after activation.

Validators who want to propose blocks with a 200 million gas limit must configure that preference explicitly. The Foundation has provided instructions on how to do this for both Prysm and Teku, but it's clear that this is still an optional feature, not a required setting for the main network. The upgrade, which combines the Amsterdam execution-layer changes with Gloas at the consensus layer, is intended to support greater Layer 1 throughput while keeping block validation practical for node operators.

The package includes enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists, among other changes. These changes suggest an effort to use the chain's capacity more efficiently, not simply pack more work into every block. More gas capacity can ease congestion and reduce pressure on transaction fees when demand rises, but it does not automatically make transactions cheaper.