CoinDesk
An ETH transfer to a never-used Ethereum address will cost 21,000 gas plus 183,600 units of new state gas under Glamsterdam. Transfers to existing accounts stay at 21,000, ending the assumption that every basic ETH payment has one fixed gas cost. Developers are warning wallets, trackers and fee calculators to update before mainnet.
Why it matters
Gas measures the work a transaction asks Ethereum to perform, and users pay for it in ETH. An existing-account payment updates balances already tracked by the network. A fresh-address payment also creates a record that Ethereum may need to store permanently. Both paths carried the same charge until now, so Glamsterdam assigns different costs to different amounts of state work.
Software has treated 21,000 as both the floor and ceiling for basic ETH transfers. Wallets use it to set gas, while trackers and fee calculators use it to sort transactions or quote fees. Keeping the old assumption could reject valid payments to new addresses or leave fee estimates short.
Market impact
The direct impact is on ETH payment infrastructure. Providers must determine whether a destination address already exists and include state gas when building or estimating a transaction. Existing-account transfers keep the 21,000-gas baseline, while fresh-address payments become more expensive in gas terms.
Glamsterdam is scheduled to switch on Thursday on Platåberget, a practice network using worthless tokens, then move to Sepolia and Hoodi before mainnet. Those testnets give wallets and services time to adapt. People sending ETH do not need to change anything this week, but the software handling their payments does.
Frequently asked questions
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How much extra state gas will a fresh Ethereum address require?
A transfer to a never-used address will incur an additional 183,600 units of state gas on top of the standard 21,000-gas charge. Existing-account transfers remain at 21,000 gas.
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Why does Glamsterdam price new addresses differently?
An existing-account payment updates balances already tracked by Ethereum. A fresh-address payment also creates a record that the network may need to store permanently, so it requires more state work.
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Which software must adapt before Glamsterdam reaches mainnet?
Wallets, blockchain trackers and fee calculators must stop treating 21,000 as both the floor and ceiling for every basic ETH transfer. Other transaction-building and estimating services also need to account for state gas.
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Do people sending ETH need to change anything this week?
No. The warning is aimed at the software layer handling ETH payments, while users sending ETH do not need to change anything this week.
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Which networks will test Glamsterdam before Ethereum mainnet?
Glamsterdam is scheduled to switch on Thursday on Platåberget, then move to Sepolia and Hoodi before mainnet. Platåberget uses worthless tokens for practice testing.
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