And
), meta, readability. Let's craft. Title: "Ethereum's Glamsterdam Upgrade Targets 200M Gas Limit, Bigger Blocks" or something. Slug: "ethereum-glamsterdam-upgrade-gas-limit" Subtitle: "The Q4 2026 upgrade pairs a tripled gas limit with new block-building mechanics." Content: Start with lead: Ethereum's next upgrade, Glamsterdam, is slated for Q4 2026 and is designed to push the network's gas limit to around 200 million, up from 60 million today. The upgrade bundles several EIPs, including block-level access lists and enshrined proposer-builder separation, to handle the larger blocks without overloading validators. Then sections. We need to ensure we use contractions, vary sentence length, no AI tics. Let's write. First paragraph: "Ethereum's next hard fork, named Glamsterdam, is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026. It targets a post-upgrade gas limit of roughly 200 million, up from the current 60 million. That's more than a threefold increase, and it comes with a set of protocol changes designed to keep the network manageable." Then a section: "What's in the upgrade" - discuss EIP-8037, EIP-8038 (gas repricing), EIP-7928 (block-level access lists), ePBS. Mention they shift state creation and access costs, potentially breaking a small set of contracts. Also mention that these help process larger blocks without proportionally increasing validator workloads. Then "State growth and zkEVM" - EIP-8037 targets state growth at about 120 GiB annually even at the higher gas limit. Longer-term zkEVM verification is planned so validators can verify proofs instead of re-executing every transaction. Then "How we got here" - Ethereum doubled its gas limit from roughly 30 million in early 2025 to 60 million following successive protocol improvements. So Glamsterdam is the next step. Then "Industry view" - Industry leaders including Federico Variola (CEO of Phemex) and Fernando Lillo Aranda (CMO of Zoomex) see the upgrade as critical for decentralized exchanges and the L1 vs L2 dynamic. End with a concrete next step: The upgrade is planned for Q4 2026, so expect the final EIP specifications and testnet deployments in the coming months. Or something. Make sure we don't say "in 2024" etc. We need to write 450-700 words. Let's count. We'll write the content HTML. Let's draft. Title: "Ethereum's Glamsterdam Upgrade Aims for 200M Gas Limit" Slug: "ethereum-glamsterdam-upgrade-gas-limit" Subtitle: "The Q4 2026 hard fork pairs a tripled gas limit with new block-building tools to keep validators in check." Content: Ethereum's next hard fork, Glamsterdam, is slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The upgrade targets a post-upgrade gas limit of around 200 million, up from the current 60 million. That's a tripling of capacity, and it comes with a bundle of protocol changes designed to keep the larger blocks from overwhelming validators.
What Glamsterdam changes
The upgrade packs in two gas repricing EIPs, 8037 and 8038, which shift the costs of state creation and access. That could break a small set of existing contracts, but it's a tradeoff the core developers are willing to make to accommodate the higher limit. The bigger piece is EIP-7928, which introduces Block-Level Access Lists, and an enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS). Together, they let the network process larger blocks without proportionally increasing the work validators have to do.
State growth and the zkEVM path
Gas repricing isn't just about cost. EIP-8037 also targets state growth, aiming to keep annual additions near 120 GiB even with the gas limit close to 200 million. That's a key number because state bloat is a known bottleneck for Ethereum. Further out, the roadmap includes zkEVM verification, which would let validators check a cryptographic proof instead of re-executing every transaction. That's the long-term answer to scaling.
How Ethereum got here
The jump from 60 million to 200 million is actually the second big step in a year. Ethereum doubled its gas limit from roughly 30 million in early 2025 to 60 million after a series of protocol improvements. Glamsterdam builds on that, but it's also a bigger leap—both in size and in the complexity of the accompanying EIPs.
What exchanges and L2s think
The upgrade is being watched closely by the trading side of the ecosystem. Federico Variola, CEO of Phemex, and Fernando Lillo Aranda, CMO of Zoomex, both see Glamsterdam as critical for decentralized exchanges and for the L1 vs. L2 balance. If Ethereum can handle more throughput, the reasoning goes, some activity currently pushed to L2s could stay on the base chain.
The next milestone is the final specification and testnet deployment, expected before the Q4 target. Contracts that rely on the old gas pricing structure will need to be audited well ahead of that.
Ethereum's next hard fork, Glamsterdam, is slated for the fourth quarter of 2026. The upgrade targets a post-upgrade gas limit of around 200 million, up from the current 60 million. That's a tripling of capacity, and it comes with a bundle of protocol changes designed to keep the larger blocks from overwhelming validators.
What Glamsterdam changes
The upgrade packs in two gas repricing EIPs, 8037 and 8038, which shift the costs of state creation and access. That could break a small set of existing contracts, but it's a tradeoff the core developers are willing to make to accommodate the higher limit. The bigger piece is EIP-7928, which introduces Block-Level Access Lists, and an enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS). Together, they let the network process larger blocks without proportionally increasing the work validators have to do.
State growth and the zkEVM path
Gas repricing isn't just about cost. EIP-8037 also targets state growth, aiming to keep annual additions near 120 GiB even with the gas limit close to 200 million. That's a key number because state bloat is a known bottleneck for Ethereum. Further out, the roadmap includes zkEVM verification, which would let validators check a cryptographic proof instead of re-executing every transaction. That's the long-term answer to scaling.
How Ethereum got here
The jump from 60 million to 200 million is actually the second big step in a year. Ethereum doubled its gas limit from roughly 30 million in early 2025 to 60 million after a series of protocol improvements. Glamsterdam builds on that, but it's also a bigger leap—both in size and in the complexity of the accompanying EIPs.
What exchanges and L2s think
The upgrade is being watched closely by the trading side of the ecosystem. Federico Variola, CEO of Phemex, and Fernando Lillo Aranda, CMO of Zoomex, both see Glamsterdam as critical for decentralized exchanges and for the L1 vs. L2 balance. If Ethereum can handle more throughput, the reasoning goes, some activity currently pushed to L2s could stay on the base chain.
The next milestone is the final specification and testnet deployment, expected before the Q4 target. Contracts that rely on the old gas pricing structure will need to be audited well ahead of that.
