Ethereum Clears Glamsterdam Test as Network Capacity Upgrade Nears

Ethereum’s latest Glamsterdam rehearsal has successfully processed blocks under the upgrade’s new block-building rules, marking another step toward a proposed Oct. 6 deployment on the Sepolia public testnet.

The testing environment raised its block gas limit toward 200 million as developers evaluate whether Ethereum can safely support substantially more activity per block.

Nethermind, one of the clients used to run Ethereum nodes, also completed a benchmark Wednesday covering a major component of the Glamsterdam upgrade.

Its software passed all 2,302 tests, processing 570.7 billion gas in 3 minutes and 15 seconds. The test produced an average processing rate of about 2.9 billion gas per second.

The benchmark was designed to measure Nethermind’s execution engine rather than the performance of Ethereum’s entire network. It examined block-level access lists, which provide clients with advance information about the accounts and storage locations a block will access.

That information can allow clients to retrieve data ahead of time and execute independent transactions simultaneously. Under Ethereum’s current architecture, much of this work happens sequentially, limiting the amount of activity that can be safely processed within a block.

Glamsterdam Tests 200 Million Gas Blocks

Approximately one hour after the testnet launched, Glamsterdam increased the block gas limit from 60 million to 200 million.

Gas represents the computational resources needed to execute transactions. Raising the ceiling allows blocks to accommodate additional payments, token swaps and other operations.

A 200 million gas limit could enable Ethereum to absorb higher transaction demand before users compete more intensely for block space. During heavy trading or major token launches, the additional capacity could help reduce severe fee increases.

However, larger blocks also require more computing power to process and verify. That could create challenges for smaller operators attempting to remain synchronized with the network. Glamsterdam is therefore designed to expand capacity while limiting the burden placed on Ethereum participants.

Changes to Block Distribution and Validation

Ethereum uses specialized block builders to organize transactions, while validators verify the completed blocks and help secure the chain.

Under Glamsterdam, the builder-to-validator handoff and its associated payments would become part of Ethereum’s protocol rules. This could reduce reliance on third-party relay infrastructure.

The upgrade also expands the time available to propagate block data across the network from around two seconds to nine seconds. Validators would have more time to receive and validate the larger blocks that the higher gas limit makes possible.

The 200 million gas setting remains limited to testing and does not establish a final mainnet target. Devnet-11 was also conducted in a controlled environment without intentional attacks.

Developers are aiming to deploy Glamsterdam on Sepolia on Oct. 6, allowing application teams to test their software under the new rules before a possible mainnet rollout.

The Oct. 6 date remains subject to formal approval.