Ethereum Is Changing Again Meet Glamsterdam

Ethereum is preparing for another major change.

Its name is Glamsterdam.

The unusual name combines Gloas, the consensus-layer upgrade, with Amsterdam, the execution-layer upgrade. Together, they form the next major step in Ethereum's ongoing effort to make its base network more capable of handling greater activity.

The upgrade is scheduled to reach the Sepolia public testnet on October 6, 2026. That is an important milestone, but it is not a mainnet launch. Ethereum's developers have not yet announced activation dates for the Hoodi testnet or Ethereum mainnet.

So, what exactly is changing?

A lot of the work happening inside Glamsterdam concerns something most Ethereum users never see: how the network creates, processes and verifies blocks.

One of the biggest changes is enshrined proposer-builder separation, or ePBS. Today, block proposers and specialised builders interact through infrastructure outside Ethereum's core protocol. Glamsterdam moves that relationship into the protocol itself, changing how blocks are assembled and proposed and reducing some of the dependencies involved in the current process.

Then there are block-level access lists, or BALs.

The name sounds technical, but the idea is relatively straightforward. Ethereum wants blocks to carry information about the parts of the network's state that transactions will access. With that information available in advance, clients can identify work that does not conflict and process certain tasks in parallel instead of handling everything sequentially.

That matters because Ethereum's long-term scaling challenge is not simply about putting more transactions through the network. It also has to make sure validators and other network participants can keep up with the increasing amount of data and computation involved.

Glamsterdam also changes Ethereum's gas accounting.

Several changes are designed to make gas costs better reflect the resources required to create and access Ethereum's growing state. Some operations will become more expensive, while other transaction costs are being adjusted. Developers are already testing the changes because applications that depend on particular gas assumptions could require updates.

The broader objective is clear: give Ethereum more room to grow without allowing the network's increasing complexity to become a bottleneck.

Ethereum.org describes Glamsterdam as part of the network's effort to scale Layer 1 by changing how transactions are processed and how the network manages its growing database. The upgrade is also intended to support higher future gas limits while keeping block validation practical for network operators.

What does Glamsterdam mean for ETH holders?

For the average person holding ETH, there is nothing to do right now.

This is a testnet upgrade, not a requirement for ordinary Ethereum users to move their assets, change wallets or take any immediate action. The Ethereum Foundation specifically says ETH holders do not need to do anything because the current announcement concerns Sepolia.

It is also important not to confuse a protocol upgrade with a price prediction.

Glamsterdam is an engineering development. It does not guarantee that ETH will rise, fall or react in any particular direction.

Its significance is deeper than a short-term market move.

Ethereum is attempting to make the infrastructure underneath its growing ecosystem more efficient. If the changes work as intended, developers and users could eventually benefit from a network better equipped to handle greater activity.

But first, the upgrade has to be tested.

That is why October 6 matters.

Sepolia will provide developers and node operators with another opportunity to put Glamsterdam through its paces before any decision is made about moving it toward mainnet.

Ethereum has already gone through years of upgrades designed to reshape how the network works. Glamsterdam continues that process — quietly changing the machinery underneath an ecosystem used by millions of people and countless applications.

For now, the next chapter is being written on a testnet.

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