CoinDesk
Ethereum developers have entered the final development phase of Glamsterdam, the network's next major protocol upgrade, running closed devnets that bundle the full suite of Ethereum Improvement Proposals slated for the fork before the codebase ships to public testnets. "We're working on devnets with all the EIPs in them right now," said Parithosh Jayanthi, a devops engineer at the Ethereum Foundation. "This is the last phase before we work on hardening and then shipping the testnets. There's no fixed timeline, but we've made massive progress."
Glamsterdam is currently expected to go live during the second half of the year and is being described by core developers as the most ambitious change to Ethereum since its transition to proof-of-stake in 2022.
Why it matters
Among the headline features are enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation, formally tracked as EIP-7732, and Block-level Access Lists (EIP-7928). ePBS would move the separation between block-building entities and block-proposing entities from today's largely offchain process into Ethereum's core protocol, with developers citing the goal of reducing trust assumptions, centralization pressure and manipulation opportunities tied to maximal extractable value.
Block-level Access Lists would let blocks declare in advance which accounts and smart-contract data they intend to access, allowing Ethereum clients to preload that information and execute blocks more efficiently. "This will majorly change the cost of actions on Ethereum," Jayanthi said. "High-level compute gets cheaper and state gets more expensive."
Market impact
The upgrade also includes a sweeping set of gas repricings intended to make Ethereum's fee structure more accurately reflect the resources different operations consume, while making the network easier to scale alongside zero-knowledge proving systems. Developers say the repricings are the part of the work most likely to surface community friction in the run-up to mainnet.
Frequently asked questions
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What is the Glamsterdam upgrade?
Glamsterdam is Ethereum's next major protocol upgrade, currently in its final development phase with closed devnets running the full set of planned EIPs before public testnet deployment.
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When is Glamsterdam expected to go live?
Core developers expect Glamsterdam to activate during the second half of the year, though no firm mainnet date has been set yet.
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What are the headline EIPs in Glamsterdam?
The two flagship proposals are enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (EIP-7732) and Block-level Access Lists (EIP-7928), alongside a broad set of gas repricings.
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How does ePBS change Ethereum?
ePBS moves the separation between block-building entities and block-proposing entities from today's largely offchain process into Ethereum's core protocol, with developers citing reduced centralization pressure and MEV-related manipulation.
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Why are the gas repricings controversial?
The repricings shift Ethereum's fee structure so high-level compute becomes cheaper while state access becomes more expensive — a change developers say is needed for ZK-proving scalability but that requires community outreach before shipping.
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