Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade passes Sepolia rehearsal with testnet launch scheduled for October 6, raising gas limits and enabling parallel transaction processing.
Tech & Launches ·
Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade has completed testing and is scheduled to deploy on the Sepolia public testnet on October 6. The upgrade passed key validation checks this week, with the Nethermind client running performance tests on block-level access lists—a core mechanic that lets nodes fetch data from unrelated transactions in parallel rather than sequentially, a shift intended to unlock additional network throughput.
The upgrade raises the maximum gas per block from 60 million to 200 million, creating more room for transactions and token activity before congestion drives up fees. Nethermind's benchmark processed roughly 57 billion gas across 2,302 tests, averaging about 2.9 billion gas per second. Glamsterdam also extends block data propagation time from roughly 2 seconds to 9 seconds and plans to embed block construction and verification rules directly into Ethereum's protocol, reducing dependence on external relay services.
The tradeoff centers on node operations: larger blocks are harder to verify, potentially raising costs for small-scale operators. According to reporting on the milestone, the upgrade aims to boost capacity without excessively straining infrastructure costs. Mainnet deployment timing remains unannounced, leaving open when the changes might reach production and materially affect Ethereum's fee structure or validator economics.