Ethereum developers have scheduled the network’s next major upgrade, known as Glamsterdam, to activate on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6. Node operators on the Sepolia network must update both their execution-layer and consensus-layer clients ahead of the activation, according to the Ethereum Foundation.
The Glamsterdam upgrade introduces several significant technical changes to the network. One major inclusion is enshrined proposer-builder separation, which moves the handoff between specialized block builders and validators directly into the Ethereum protocol to reduce reliance on outside middleware.
Additionally, the upgrade will introduce block-level access lists to record the accounts and storage locations used during each block. It will also alter gas pricing to better reflect the costs associated with creating and accessing data on Ethereum. The foundation noted that smart contracts relying on fixed gas stipends or hardcoded gas limits may need to be updated as a result.
While the Sepolia date is set, developers have not yet scheduled the rollout for the validator-focused testnet Hoodi or for the mainnet.
Looking further ahead, developers are targeting 2027 for Hegotá, the upgrade slated to follow Glamsterdam. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin stated that Hegotá could serve as the network’s final standard fork before development priorities shift toward recursive STARKs, automated formal verification, optimized consensus, and quantum-safe cryptography.
