The Ethereum Foundation has outlined the technical details for the Glamsterdam hard fork, targeting a 2026 deployment. Unlike prior upgrades, Glamsterdam puts block validation at the center of its overhaul, modifying both the execution and consensus layers. Analyst Crypto With Gopal noted that the network is accelerating toward its next scalability phase.
EIP-7732: Separating Block Production from Validation
EIP-7732, dubbed "Enshrined Proposer Builder Separation" (ePBS), decouples block production from validation. Validators gain a more active protocol-level role in producing blocks, reducing reliance on third-party builders. This is expected to improve network efficiency and lower centralization risks.
EIP-7928: Block-Level Access Lists for Lower Gas Fees
EIP-7928 mandates access lists at the block level, pre-declaring which accounts and storage keys a transaction may touch. Nodes can preload the necessary data, enabling parallel transaction processing and potentially lowering gas fees. Gas fees, the cost to execute operations or smart contracts on Ethereum, often spike under congestion; EIP-7928 aims to structurally mitigate this.
According to the Ethereum Foundation, Glamsterdam is designed to expand Layer 1 capacity and create a better environment for validators, developers, and dApps. Beyond the two headline proposals, developers plan to include ten new EIPs in the next devnet release.
Approved EIPs: ETH Transfer Logs and Contract Size Increase
EIP-7708 introduces a new structure for ETH transfer logs, standardizing on-chain records. EIP-7954 raises the smart contract size limit from 24 KiB to 64 KiB, more than doubling the previous cap. For developers building complex DeFi protocols or on-chain games, larger contract space reduces fragmented deployments and cross-contract calls. Additional devnet improvements cover gas metering, call data management, opcode sets, and state control mechanisms to fine-tune performance.
Around 15 other EIPs are under evaluation, covering gas metering, validator architecture, network communication, and staking. EIP-7904 is considered unlikely to be accepted. The development team continues to weigh the impact of each proposal on mainnet stability, with all proposals requiring rigorous testing before inclusion in the final fork.
Potential Impact on Developers, Validators, and Users
The updated roadmap shows Ethereum adapting to its accelerating usage. Developers could benefit from simpler deployments and lower costs due to the contract size increase and parallel transaction support. Validators may experience faster block production, reducing reward uncertainty. End-users may see more balanced and predictable gas fees, especially during peak network activity.
With over a year until full deployment, the current roadmap makes clear Ethereum's technical priorities. Changes to block validation sit at the heart of its long-term scaling strategy, and further EIPs will continue to be tested and integrated.