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Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade is scheduled to activate on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6 at 13:53:36 UTC, setting up a test of a 200 million block gas preference. Validators must update their execution and consensus software before the fork. Those running Prysm 7.2.0 or Teku 26.9.1 must also change their settings to signal the higher preference; both otherwise retain a 60 million default.
Why it matters
The gap between supported software and validator settings makes Sepolia a coordination test, not an automatic jump to 200 million gas. EIP-8261 provides an optional schedule of recommended gas-limit preferences. It does not change which blocks are valid, and validators can choose their own preference. Any increase in Sepolia's realized limit will therefore emerge gradually as validators propose blocks.
A higher block gas limit gives Ethereum more room for aggregate computation, including activity on decentralized exchanges and other DeFi applications. Glamsterdam pairs execution-layer changes with the Gloas consensus upgrade. Enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists are intended to help clients handle greater throughput, including by parallelizing state reads and transaction validation.
Market impact
More block capacity can ease congestion and fee pressure when demand rises, but it does not shorten Ethereum's block times. The network has already moved from a 30 million gas limit toward 36 million in February 2025, then to 45 million, while Fusaka client releases adopted a 60 million default. Fusaka also introduced a 16.7 million gas cap on individual transactions, limiting how much of a larger block any one operation can use.
For ETH and DeFi users, the near-term signal is validator participation in Sepolia's 200 million preference, not a mainnet capacity increase. Dates for Glamsterdam activation on Hoodi and Ethereum mainnet remain undecided.
Frequently asked questions
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Why do Prysm and Teku validators need to change their settings?
Prysm 7.2.0 and Teku 26.9.1 support Glamsterdam but retain a 60 million gas preference unless validators explicitly set a higher one.
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Will Sepolia's gas limit jump to 200 million when Glamsterdam activates?
No. EIP-8261's schedule is optional, and the realized gas limit will change gradually as validators propose blocks.
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How would a higher block gas limit affect Ethereum users?
It would allow more aggregate computation per block, potentially easing congestion and fee pressure when demand rises. It would not make block times faster.
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What changes in Glamsterdam are intended to support higher throughput?
Glamsterdam combines execution-layer changes with the Gloas consensus upgrade and introduces enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists.
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When will Glamsterdam activate on Ethereum mainnet?
A mainnet activation date has not been set. Hoodi's activation date also remains undecided.
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