Ethereum developers have postponed the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi test network while they investigate how a proposed change interacts with existing mainnet smart contracts.
The Ethereum Foundation announced the decision on October 22, withdrawing the activation planned for October 26. No replacement date has been set. Hoodi operators must check their software configurations, while Ethereum mainnet users and ETH holders need take no action.
Key Takeaways
Hoodi’s October 26 Glamsterdam activation has been postponed.
Developers are investigating EIP-8037’s interaction with existing contracts.
The scheduled increase to a 200 million gas limit has also been removed.
The announcement does not establish a mainnet activation date.
That proposal changes how Ethereum charges for creating persistent blockchain state, including accounts, contract code and storage. The review concerns how those changes interact with contracts already deployed on mainnet.
This is relevant because smart contracts execute according to network rules, including limits on the computational work a transaction can perform. Changing those rules requires compatibility testing alongside performance testing.
The Foundation’s earlier guidance specifically flagged contracts relying on fixed gas allowances, hardcoded limits or assumptions about remaining gas as potentially needing changes.
What Glamsterdam Is Designed to Change
Glamsterdam combines the Amsterdam execution-layer upgrade with the Gloas consensus-layer upgrade.
Its planned features include bringing proposer-builder separation into Ethereum’s protocol and introducing block-level access lists. These changes aim to improve how blocks are produced and validated, supporting greater execution capacity.
Access lists record the accounts and storage locations used within a block, helping clients organise processing more efficiently. The Ethereum Virtual Machine provides the execution environment in which Ethereum’s contracts run.
The original upgrade announcement also outlined changes to gas accounting. Its October 26 schedule has now been superseded.
Hoodi Operators Need Revised Configurations
The postponement removes both upgrade activations and the planned gas-limit increase from Hoodi’s schedule. It changes future configuration without reversing the testnet’s existing transaction history.
Operators should follow updated execution and consensus client instructions before October 26, including guidance for validator and builder software where applicable.
The gas-limit change concerns the amount of work blocks can accommodate. It should not be read as a promised reduction in user fees: Ethereum gas fees also depend on demand and the resources individual transactions consume.
Conclusion
Hoodi’s next Glamsterdam rehearsal remains unscheduled while developers investigate contract compatibility. A revised testnet announcement will be needed before operators can plan around a new activation date; a mainnet schedule remains a separate decision.
Disclaimer: This article is intended solely for informational purposes and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein should be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading or investing in cryptocurrencies carries a considerable risk of financial loss. Always conduct due diligence before making any trading or investment decisions.
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