Glamsterdam: Ethereum's Largest Upgrade Since The Merge
Ethereum is set for a milestone upgrade — Glamsterdam, scheduled for the second half of 2026. It is considered the most substantial network change since The Merge in 2022, with the core goal of further improving mainnet performance, stabilizing fee structures, and maintaining decentralization.
Key Improvements: ePBS, BALs, and Gas Repricing
Glamsterdam introduces three major technical upgrades:
- Enshrined PBS (ePBS): Embeds the proposer-builder separation mechanism directly into the protocol layer, removing reliance on relays to reduce censorship risks and enhance security.
- Block Access Lists (BALs): Allow transactions within a block to declare the storage slots they access, supporting parallel execution and efficient syncing, potentially boosting network throughput significantly.
- Gas Repricing: Adjusts the gas metering model to more accurately reflect actual computation and state storage costs, reducing fee volatility and optimizing resource allocation.
Impact on Ethereum and Ordinary Users
For ordinary users, Glamsterdam will bring more stable transaction fees (especially during network congestion) and faster confirmation times. Validators will benefit from a simpler block-building process and lower relay risks. Overall, this upgrade continues Ethereum's trajectory toward greater scalability and decentralization while enhancing performance.

