Ethereum developers have entered the final development phase of the network's next major upgrade, known as Glamsterdam, according to multiple sources involved in the project. The milestone was marked by the launch of closed devnets—private test networks where developers can verify the integration of all proposed Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) before they are deployed on public testnets and eventually the mainnet.
The upgrade is widely considered the most consequential protocol overhaul since the Merge in 2022, which transitioned Ethereum from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Glamsterdam is expected to ship in the second half of 2026, though no firm date has been set. The final development stage signals that the core team is now focused on stability, regression testing, and resolving any last-minute issues before the broader community can begin testing.
What is Glamsterdam?
Glamsterdam is the working name for the next Ethereum network upgrade, following the Dencun upgrade (which included EIP-4844 and proto-danksharding) and the subsequent Pectra upgrade. The name continues Ethereum's tradition of naming upgrades after cities (e.g., Berlin, London, Shanghai) with a playful twist. Glamsterdam combines a sense of glamour with the Dutch capital, reflecting the upgrade's ambitious scope.
While the exact list of EIPs included in Glamsterdam has not been finalized, early discussions suggest a focus on several critical areas: improving the user experience for layer-2 rollups by further reducing data availability costs, enhancing the security of staking pools, and introducing new opcodes for more efficient smart contract execution. Some proposals under consideration include EIP-7692 (which refines the EVM object format), EIP-7667 (which addresses memory model improvements), and EIP-7251 (which increases the maximum effective balance for validators from 32 ETH to 2,048 ETH, enabling larger staking pools to consolidate operations).
Key Features of the Upgrade
Scalability Improvements: Glamsterdam aims to build upon the data availability enhancements introduced in Dencun by further lowering blob size or increasing the number of blobs per block. This would reduce transaction costs for layer-2 rollups, making Ethereum more competitive with alternative layer-1 blockchains. The upgrade also explores new compression techniques for call data, which could benefit all dApps.
Staking Enhancements: One of the most anticipated changes is the potential to allow validators to set a higher effective balance—from 32 ETH to up to 2,048 ETH. This would simplify the staking infrastructure for large node operators like Lido and Coinbase, reducing the number of validator keys they need to manage and cutting down on signature aggregation overhead. However, the community has debated whether this could lead to centralization, as larger validators gain disproportionate rewards.
Smart Contract Efficiency: New EVM opcodes are being considered to lower gas costs for common patterns like reading from storage or performing cryptographic operations. These changes could reduce fees for DeFi users and make complex smart contracts more economical to execute.
Historical Context: The Road from the Merge
Since Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake, the network has undergone a series of upgrades aimed at scaling, security, and sustainability. The Shanghai upgrade (2023) unlocked staked ETH withdrawals, addressing a critical user concern. The Dencun upgrade (2024) introduced proto-danksharding, drastically lowering rollup fees and spurring a wave of layer-2 adoption. The Pectra upgrade (2025) brought validator efficiency improvements and preliminary account abstraction features.
Now, Glamsterdam represents the next logical step: consolidating the gains from earlier upgrades while tackling remaining bottlenecks. The upgrade is also seen as a precursor to the full implementation of sharding, which Ethereum has been working toward since its inception. While full sharding was originally planned for the Merge timeline, technical challenges led the team to adopt a rollup-centric roadmap. Glamsterdam could bring Ethereum closer to that vision by providing additional data space for rollups without requiring fundamental changes to the consensus layer.
Development Timeline and Next Steps
As of June 2026, developers have launched multiple devnets to test the Glamsterdam upgrade. These devnets are private, meaning only core developers and select partners have access. The purpose is to catch high-level bugs and verify that all EIPs work together before exposing the upgrade to a wider audience.
The next milestone is to move the upgrade to a public testnet such as Sepolia or Holesky. Once the public testnet runs smoothly for a few weeks, a mainnet fork epoch will be proposed. If no critical issues are discovered, the upgrade could go live on mainnet as early as the fourth quarter of 2026.
However, delays are always possible. The Ethereum developer community has a strong culture of due diligence; past upgrades have been postponed to fix bugs or address security concerns. For instance, the Dencun upgrade was delayed for several months after testnet anomalies were discovered.
One area of ongoing discussion is the potential inclusion of EIP-3074 (account abstraction via AUTH and AUTHCALL opcodes). Some developers argue that Glamsterdam should include this EIP to enable social recovery and recurring payments without users holding ETH for gas. Others believe that full native account abstraction (EIP-7702) should be prioritized for the next upgrade instead. The final EIP list is expected to be announced within the next few weeks.
Impact on the Ecosystem
The Glamsterdam upgrade is likely to have far-reaching effects on the Ethereum ecosystem. For layer-2 solutions, lower data availability costs could further reduce fees on platforms like Arbitrum, Optimism, and zkSync. This would make Ethereum-based applications more accessible to users in regions with high transaction costs.
For stakers, the ability to consolidate validators may reduce operational complexity for large pools and potentially improve network decentralization by making it easier for smaller entities to run a single validator without needing to fully unify their holdings. However, critics warn that the change could also accelerate the concentration of staking power among a few dominant providers.
DeFi protocols may also see indirect benefits through lower gas costs for complex transactions, enabling more sophisticated on-chain strategies. NFT marketplaces and gaming dApps could also welcome reduced fees for minting and trading.
On a broader level, successful deployment of Glamsterdam would reaffirm Ethereum's position as the leading smart contract platform, especially as competitors like Solana and Avalanche continue to innovate. The upgrade demonstrates that Ethereum's research and development pipeline remains robust, even after years of major changes.
The Ethereum community remains optimistic but cautious. Developers are aware that the upgrade's combination of multiple EIPs increases the risk of unintended interactions. Rigorous testing on testnets will be crucial before the mainnet activation. In the meantime, stakeholders are watching closely as Glamsterdam moves from the final development stage toward deployment.
Source: Coindesk News