Ethereum developers are preparing to activate the highly anticipated “Glamsterdam” upgrade on the Hoodi test network on October 26, 2026, introducing a massive 200 million transaction capacity limit alongside major security and speed overhauls designed to make the main Ethereum network faster, safer, and cheaper for everyday crypto investors.
By Amir Hassan | October 20, 2026
The Hook
If you have ever tried to swap tokens or move digital dollars on Ethereum during a busy market day, you know the frustration of watching transaction fees spike while your transfer sits in line. For years, the crypto industry has tried to solve this problem by steering everyday users onto secondary “express lane” networks—known as Layer 2s—while leaving Ethereum’s main highway crowded and expensive.
Now, Ethereum’s core engineering team is widening the main highway itself. According to official release announcements from the Ethereum Foundation and reporting from CCN, developers will activate the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi testing network on October 26, 2026. Following an initial trial run on the Sepolia test network on October 6, 2026, this upcoming milestone will push the network’s block capacity target up to 200 million gas units.
For regular investors holding Ether (ETH)—which is currently trading at $2,398.04, down 0.48% over the past 24 hours—this upgrade is much more than a routine software patch. While Bitcoin (BTC) holds steady at $81,674.00 (down 0.71%) and high-speed rival Solana (SOL) trades at $104.34 (down 0.29%), Ethereum is proving that it can upgrade its foundational engine to handle vastly more financial traffic without sacrificing the security that big banks and everyday savers rely on.
On-Chain Evidence
The Glamsterdam upgrade—a combined name representing the Amsterdam transaction-processing upgrade and the Gloas network-security upgrade—packs several critical improvements into a single release. Based on technical specifications published by Ethereum.org and data covered by FinanceFeeds, here are the verified facts behind the upcoming test rollout:
- Scheduled Activation Date: The Hoodi test network will officially trigger the upgrade on October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC (specifically at network epoch 132,352 and slot 4,235,264), following the earlier October 6, 2026 activation on the Sepolia test network.
- The 200 Million Capacity Target: Simultaneously with the upgrade, developers are raising the Hoodi test network’s block gas limit to 200 million. Think of the gas limit as the maximum weight a delivery truck is allowed to carry on each trip; raising that limit to 200 million allows every single block of transactions on the network to pack in significantly more user transfers and trades at once.
- Opening Multiple Checkout Lanes (EIP-7928): The upgrade introduces Block-Level Access Lists (BALs) under improvement proposal EIP-7928. Previously, Ethereum had to process transactions one by one in a single-file line because the system could not tell ahead of time if two transactions might touch the same digital wallet. By requiring each block to attach a clear checklist of every account it touches before processing starts, Ethereum software can now process non-overlapping transactions at the exact same time—like opening multiple checkout lanes at a busy grocery store.
- Cutting Out the Middlemen (EIP-7732): Through a major overhaul called Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) under EIP-7732, Ethereum is building the hand-off between the specialists who assemble transaction bundles and the independent operators who verify them directly into its core code.
The Core Conflict
To understand why Glamsterdam is sparking intense debate across the crypto world, you have to look at the tug-of-war between raw speed and true independence. Whenever a blockchain increases its transaction capacity, it forces the computers that run the network to work harder and store more data.
If Ethereum raises its transaction limits too recklessly, only massive corporate data centers would be able to afford the computer hardware needed to verify the ledger. That would defeat the entire purpose of decentralized money, turning Ethereum into just another corporate database controlled by a handful of tech giants. To prevent this data overload—often called “state bloat”—the Glamsterdam upgrade carefully adjusts transaction fee rules so that operations that permanently take up hard-drive space on the network are priced accurately, keeping hardware demands manageable for independent home operators.
At the same time, EIP-7732 tackles a hidden vulnerability that has worried Ethereum researchers for years. Until now, Ethereum relied on external, third-party software middlemen—commonly known as MEV-Boost relays—to connect the specialized firms that organize transactions with the everyday network operators who lock them into the ledger. Because a tiny handful of outside companies controlled those middlemen bridges, they created a dangerous bottleneck that could be censored or knocked offline.
By moving that coordination directly inside Ethereum’s own rulebook and introducing a built-in timekeeping group—called a Payload Timeliness Committee—to make sure transaction builders deliver their data on schedule, Ethereum eliminates the need to trust outside middlemen. Better yet, decoupling these steps gives independent computer operators a wider time window to safely double-check the math on huge 200 million capacity blocks without falling behind.
Market Implications
Why should a regular investor care about a technical rehearsal on a test network? Because test networks like Sepolia and Hoodi are the final dress rehearsals before an upgrade goes live on the real Ethereum network where trillions of dollars in value are settled.
Right now, ETH is trading at $2,398.04, caught in a cautious broader market alongside Bitcoin at $81,674.00 and Solana at $104.34. For months, critics have argued that Ethereum was losing ground on two fronts: fast competitors like Solana were winning over retail traders with near-instant speed, while Ethereum’s own Layer 2 express lanes were siphoning transaction fees away from the main network.
The Glamsterdam upgrade directly answers both challenges. First, by expanding main-network capacity toward the 200 million mark and processing non-conflicting transactions simultaneously, Ethereum makes its primary layer much more competitive for high-value financial activity. Major Wall Street institutions launching tokenized funds and digital deposit tokens prefer to settle their largest transactions on Ethereum’s main ledger where security is strongest. Expanding capacity means Ethereum can absorb growing institutional traffic without pricing everyday investors out of using their own wallets.
Second, stripping out external middlemen through EIP-7732 makes the network far more resilient against outages or regulatory pressure targeting third-party software providers. For long-term holders who stake their ETH to earn interest, a cleaner, self-contained system lowers the risk of technical failures and ensures that independent staking operators can compete on a level playing field with giant institutional pools.
The Verdict
You do not need to take any manual action with your personal crypto wallet for the October 26, 2026 test activation—only software operators running computers on the Hoodi test network are required to update their programs before the deadline. Moreover, Ethereum developers have not yet announced an official launch date for when Glamsterdam will hit the main network, as engineers will first monitor how the Hoodi test handles the 200 million capacity jump.
Still, for everyday investors evaluating whether Ethereum can defend its crown as the world’s leading smart-contract platform, the roadmap is becoming crystal clear. By opening parallel checkout lanes for transactions and removing reliance on outside middlemen, Glamsterdam lays the groundwork for a faster, more self-reliant Ethereum—one built to handle both Wall Street’s billions and your everyday wallet transfers without breaking a sweat.
The cryptocurrency market remains highly volatile. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
A clean Hoodi fork on the 26th is the green light nobody prices until fees actually drop. Upgrades like this usually get sold into first.
nils the sold into first pattern is so consistent its basically a calendar trade at this point. short the rumor, buy the epoch after the clean fork
sold into first happens like clockwork on eth upgrades. already got limit orders stacked under 80k in case hoodi fumbles the 26th
the epoch after a clean fork is historically where the actual move starts. everyone front-runs the sell and forgets to buy the boredom after
the boredom after a clean fork is the most reliable eth trade there is. bought the merge dip and the cancun dip, bidding under hoodi too if the 26th gets messy
merge and cancun both played out exactly like that. the crowded trade now is expecting the pattern, which is usually when it breaks
the pattern being the crowded trade is the actual new angle. front-run the front-runners and buy before hoodi even ships
sold into first is the base case for every major fork. but cheaper calldata lowers every L2 cost curve at once, so the sell the news crowd is fighting a real fundamentals tailwind
200 million tx capacity sounds wild until you remember they want everyone on L2s anyway. still, widening mainnet instead of just yelling use arbitrum is a nice change
the blob math is the underrated part, cheaper mainnet calldata lowers l2 costs even if nobody moves back. both and is the right read
wider mainnet and L2s is both/and not either/or. cheaper mainnet calldata makes every L2 cheaper too, the blob math runs through here
The Hoodi testnet run on the 26th is the part people should watch. Last few upgrades looked rough on testnets first and nobody paid attention until mainnet gas spiked
finally someone saying it. if Glamsterdam actually ships clean ill believe the cheap swaps again
watch the fork block itself. last two testnet activations had a validator client split for an hour, a clean Hoodi fork is the actual green light
fork watch checklist is right. also check whether the big rollups bump batch frequency after, if the L2s dont use the extra room the 200M cap is just insurance
rollupjanitor exactly, watch whether base and arbitrum bump batch frequency after the 26th. if they leave it sitting there the 200M cap is just headroom insurance nobody claims
the hour long client split on the last testnet activation is exactly why im not pricing any of this until a few epochs after 1064. clean fork or nothing
been stuck paying $9 to swap on mainnet during peak hours. if this cuts that even in half im moving half my bags back from the L2
priyanka the $9 was mostly peak blob congestion, but if glamsterdam widens calldata that fee drops anyway. you get your move back for free
moving bags back is exactly what they dont want lol. whole roadmap is built on you staying on the express lane
The gas math here is the everyday test. If a busy-day swap still costs single digits after Glamsterdam lands on mainnet, that is when normal people come back, not before.
single digit swaps on a busy day is the whole adoption thesis. nobody onboards because blockspace got philosophically cheaper, they onboard when the number on the confirm screen is small
Hoodi on the 26th, mainnet months later. the 200M capacity number is what people will fight about, hobby hardware node operators are the quiet losers of this upgrade
200M capacity plus blob improvements in one fork. nobody at the merge predicted L2s eating this much volume, Glamsterdam is ethereum admitting the fee war is real
fee war framing is right, but the L2s already won round one. 200M gas is ethereum arguing it can host the winners directly instead of renting them blobs
L2s won round one because ethereum was arguing philosophy instead of shipping blockspace. 200M gas is the concession speech