Ethereum developers have entered the final stretch of work on Glamsterdam, the network's most ambitious protocol upgrade since the transition to proof-of-stake in 2022, as teams begin testing a version of the fork containing all planned Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) in closed developer networks before moving to public testnets.
Market Context
Glamsterdam represents what core developers are describing as "probably the largest fork we've had since the Merge," potentially reshaping how Ethereum handles transaction ordering, block execution and fee economics. The timing is significant as competition in Layer-1 blockchain infrastructure intensifies and zero-knowledge proving systems become increasingly central to scaling strategies across the industry.
The upgrade arrives amid heightened focus on maximal extractable value (MEV) extraction practices that have raised centralization concerns within the Ethereum ecosystem. Institutional and retail participants watching Ethereum's infrastructure evolution will need to understand how changes to block building mechanics could affect transaction ordering guarantees.
Analysis
"We're working on devnets with all the EIPs in them right now," said Parithosh Jayanthi, a core developer at the Ethereum Foundation. "This is the last phase before we work on hardening and then shipping the testnets." While no fixed activation date has been determined, Glamsterdam remains targeted for the second half of 2026.
The upgrade's headline features include enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), formally tracked as EIP-7732. Currently, the separation between entities that build transaction blocks and those that propose them relies largely on off-chain mechanisms with additional trust assumptions and centralization concerns. By moving this mechanism on-chain, developers aim to reduce opportunities for MEV-related manipulation.
Block-level Access Lists (EIP-7928) represents another major proposal that would allow blocks to declare in advance which accounts and smart-contract data they intend to access. This change enables Ethereum clients to preload information more efficiently, making block execution faster, more predictable and easier to optimize—a development watched closely by node operators and infrastructure providers.
Perhaps most impactful for end users will be a sweeping set of gas repricings that could significantly alter the economics of using Ethereum. "This will majorly change the cost of actions on Ethereum," Jayanthi explained. "High-level compute gets cheaper and state gets more expensive." These repricings are designed to make Ethereum's fee structure more accurately reflect resource consumption while improving compatibility with zero-knowledge proving systems.
Key Numbers
- EIP-7732: Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) brings block building mechanics on-chain
- EIP-7928: Block-level Access Lists enabling optimized client preloading and predictable execution
- 2022: Year of the Merge, Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake consensus
- H2 2026: Target window for Glamsterdam mainnet activation
What to Watch
Developers indicate that continued testing, specification finalization and community outreach regarding repricing implications remain immediate priorities before testnet deployment. Market participants should monitor for public testnet announcements and client release timelines as concrete activation dates take shape. The gas repricing changes warrant particular attention from DeFi protocols and application developers who may need to adjust contract architectures.
The success of ePBS implementation will be a bellwether for future on-chain governance decisions, while Block-level Access Lists adoption could influence how Layer-2 scaling solutions integrate with Ethereum's core protocol going forward.