17h05 ▪ 5 min read ▪ by Luc Jose A.
Summarize this article with:
Ethereum prepares to increase its gas limit from 60 to 200 million per block as part of the Glamsterdam upgrade. This increase represents a factor of 3.3, not 33, but it currently only applies to test networks, with no date set yet for the mainnet.
In brief
- Ethereum prepares an increase of its gas limit from 60 to 200 million per block, a multiplication by 3.3.
- Glamsterdam continues its tests after Sepolia, with deployment planned on Hoodi on October 26.
- The upgrade aims to improve network capacity through more efficient block validation and parallel processing of transactions.
- This increase could reduce congestion, without guaranteeing a proportional decrease in transaction fees.
- Ethereum seeks to preserve its decentralization by managing computing, storage, and bandwidth needs.
The 200 million gas test arrives on Hoodi
Glamsterdam was activated on the Sepolia test network on October 6. The Ethereum Foundation now plans its deployment on Hoodi on October 26 at 17:42 UTC, the last public step announced before a possible activation on the main network.
The schedule and levels chosen clarify the scope of the change :
- The tested limit rises from about 60 to 200 million gas per block ;
- The increase corresponds to a factor of 3.3 ;
- Sepolia has already applied this new limit since October 6 ;
- Hoodi is scheduled to adopt it on October 26 ;
- No activation date on the mainnet has been decided ;
- A future increase to 300 million is mentioned, but it is not an official commitment.
Ethereum researcher Toni Wahrstätter states :
Hoodi is the last testnet before mainnet. With the upcoming arrival of Glamsterdam, Ethereum will multiply its gas limit by 3.3, from 60 to 200 million.
He also considers that a target of 300 million could become realistic. Gas measures the amount of computing work required to execute transactions and smart contracts. A higher limit allows more computation in each block. It can thus increase Ethereum’s capacity and reduce competition for available space when the network faces high demand.
This upgrade does not guarantee an identical multiplication of the number of transactions. Glamsterdam also modifies the gas cost of several operations. The outcome will depend on the type of transaction, the contracts used, and the amount of permanent data created on the network.
Glamsterdam reorganizes block validation
Raising the limit is made possible by two structural changes. The first, called enshrined proposer-builder separation, embeds directly in the protocol the separation between actors who build blocks and validators who propose them.
This architecture should give validators more time to verify blocks. It also aims to reduce dependence on external systems that currently organize part of this separation.
The second change relies on block-level access lists. These lists specify in advance the accounts and storage locations used by transactions of a block. Clients of the network from Vitalik Buterin can thus retrieve the necessary data earlier and verify independent operations in parallel.
The network then avoids processing all transactions one after the other systematically. This parallelization increases the volume of computation a node can control without exceeding the time available between two blocks.
Initial results on Sepolia remain encouraging but incomplete. An analysis of several blocks showed a consumption between 52 and 92 million gas, only 26% to 46% of the new capacity. Tests thus have not yet consistently replicated the maximum load Ethereum could experience on its mainnet.
Increased capacity imposes new costs
Larger blocks can increase the demands placed on node operators. They require more computation, bandwidth, and storage. Too rapid an increase could restrict validation to powerful infrastructures and weaken decentralization.
Glamsterdam therefore adds new pricing for operations that create or access Ethereum’s state, i.e., the permanent data kept by every node. EIP-8037 raises and separates the cost of creating this state. EIP-8038 reevaluates the access price.
The goal is to maintain annual database growth near 120 gibibytes, so individuals can still run a node with affordable hardware. The capacity increase must not cause uncontrolled growth of stored data.
These changes also force some developers to adapt their applications. Smart contracts using hardcoded gas limits, outdated estimates, or fixed assumptions about remaining gas may fail after the upgrade. The Ethereum Foundation recommends testing before mainnet transition.
For the ordinary user, no immediate action is required. Wallets and infrastructure providers will need to update their estimation tools.
Glamsterdam does not automatically promise fees divided by three or three times more transactions. The upgrade rather creates technical conditions for a sustainable capacity increase, provided that the tests on Hoodi confirm the stability observed on Sepolia.
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Luc Jose A.
Diplômé de Sciences Po Toulouse et titulaire d'une certification consultant blockchain délivrée par Alyra, j'ai rejoint l'aventure Cointribune en 2019. Convaincu du potentiel de la blockchain pour transformer de nombreux secteurs de l'économie, j'ai pris l'engagement de sensibiliser et d'informer le grand public sur cet écosystème en constante évolution. Mon objectif est de permettre à chacun de mieux comprendre la blockchain et de saisir les opportunités qu'elle offre. Je m'efforce chaque jour de fournir une analyse objective de l'actualité, de décrypter les tendances du marché, de relayer les dernières innovations technologiques et de mettre en perspective les enjeux économiques et sociétaux de cette révolution en marche.
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