Ethereum core developers have moved the Glamsterdam upgrade into its final development phase, with a full protocol package already running on developer testnets. The overhaul is being described as the network’s biggest protocol change since the 2022 Merge, and the current target remains the second half of 2026.
Three changes define the upgrade package
The first major item is ePBS, which separates block building from block proposing and brings that structure into Ethereum’s base protocol. Today, much of that process depends on off-chain systems. Developers have argued that this setup carries trust assumptions and leaves room for centralization risk. By moving ePBS on-chain, the proposal aims to reduce the room available for MEV extraction strategies.
The second item is the block-level access list. Under this design, a block can declare in advance which accounts and smart contract data it plans to access before execution starts. That gives Ethereum clients a way to preload data, making block execution faster and more predictable.
The third piece is a broad gas repricing effort. Parithosh Jayanthi said the change would materially alter operating costs on Ethereum: “High-end computation becomes cheaper, state becomes more expensive.” The goal is to align fees more closely with the actual resources consumed by different operations, while also making Ethereum easier to integrate with zero-knowledge proof systems.
Testing is still underway before public testnets
According to Jayanthi, developers are currently testing the full EIP bundle on devnets. This stage sits just before code hardening is completed and the package moves to public testnets. He said there is no fixed timeline, but added that development has already made substantial progress.
Work from here centers on continued testing, finalizing specifications, and explaining the effects of gas repricing to the broader Ethereum community. A precise launch date has not been set, but the projected release window has not changed.
Cost models for Layer 2s and apps may shift
The repricing effort could reshape fee structures across Ethereum’s Layer 2 ecosystem, including chains such as Base, Arbitrum, and Optimism mentioned in the source material. If advanced computation gets cheaper, applications tied to on-chain AI workloads, on-chain inference, and zero-knowledge proof verification could see lower costs. At the same time, if state access becomes more expensive, dApps that repeatedly read on-chain data may need to revise how they are built.
Glamsterdam does not change Ethereum’s consensus system. It does, however, alter assumptions in the network’s underlying economic model, which is why developers are already being pushed to test the new EIPs and evaluate how execution, state access, and deployment costs could change once the upgrade goes live.