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Ethereum developers have entered the final major stretch of preparations for Glamsterdam, the network’s most significant protocol overhaul since the 2022 Merge.
Teams are now running devnets that incorporate the full set of planned Ethereum Improvement Proposals, a phase before code hardening and public testnet deployment.
Parithosh Jayanthi, a core developer and DevOps engineer at the Ethereum Foundation, said the work represents the final stage before shipping to testnets. While no firm launch date has been set, the upgrade is targeted for the second half of 2026.
Glamsterdam is expected to change several core assumptions about the network and lay the groundwork for substantial future scaling. Among the headline changes is the enshrining of Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) via EIP-7732, which would bring the current off-chain block-building process on-chain.
This feature aims to reduce trust assumptions, limit centralization risks, and curb manipulation tied to maximal extractable value.
 
Another key proposal is Block-level Access Lists (EIP-7928), which would let blocks declare intended account and smart contract interactions in advance. The change is designed to allow clients to preload data more efficiently, improving execution speed, predictability, and optimization potential.
The upgrade also includes gas repricing, which will alter the economics of Ethereum transactions. High-level computing is set to become cheaper while state access grows more expensive, aligning fees with actual resource consumption and improving compatibility with zero-knowledge proving systems.
Jayanthi described the fork as likely the largest since the Merge and emphasized ongoing testing, specification finalization, and community outreach, especially around the repricing implications.
At press time, ETH traded at $1,748, down 1.08% in the past 24 hours. Longer-term sentiment hinges on Glamsterdam and the subsequent Hegotá upgrade delivering meaningful gains in speed and efficiency.
Meanwhile, potential staking approvals for spot Ethereum ETFs could boost institutional demand, though regulatory scrutiny and competition from faster networks like Solana remain notable risks.