Ethereum Delays Glamsterdam Hoodi Upgrade Over EIP-8037 Risks

HIGHLIGHTS Core developers postponed the Glamsterdam upgrade on Hoodi testnet, cancelling the October 26 activation with no replacement date yet. ChainSecurity flagged that EIP-8037 gas repricing could break assumptions in some smart contracts, so node operators must update clients. Mainnet and ETH holders need no action, and the Q4 2026 mainnet window stays open, with December as a candidate. Ethereum core developers have postponed the Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi testnet, originally scheduled for October 26, 2026.

The decision was made during All Core Devs Execution (ACDE) call #248. The aim is to allow deeper investigation into how EIP-8037’s gas accounting changes interact with existing mainnet smart contracts.
What the Delay Covers, and What It Does Not
The postponement removes three things from the October 26 epoch.

It cancels the Amsterdam execution-layer activation, the Gloas consensus-layer activation, and the planned raise of Hoodi’s gas limit to 200 million.

No replacement date has been set. A new schedule will be announced separately.
The delay rolls back the Glamsterdam upgrade configuration for a future date.

It does not revert Hoodi’s chain history, and mainnet users and ETH holders need take no action.

Security firm ChainSecurity flagged that EIP-8037’s gas repricing could allow failure handlers to succeed in scenarios that previously reverted.

That could break assumptions in certain contracts. Node and validator operators must update clients, including Lodestar, Besu, and Nethermind, to releases that explicitly confirm removal of the October 26 activation.

The Glamsterdam upgrade had already activated on the Sepolia testnet on October 6, as the Ethereum Foundation confirmed the Glamsterdam Sepolia date alongside Hoodi plans. Sepolia is unaffected by this delay.
What Glamsterdam Is, and What Comes Next
Glamsterdam is Ethereum’s major L1 scaling upgrade for 2026. It combines enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS via EIP-7732), block-level access lists (BALs via EIP-7928), and gas repricing under EIP-8037 and EIP-8038.

Together, these changes aim to raise throughput and keep state growth sustainable.

Vitalik Buterin’s push for EIP-8288 maximalism to streamline Ethereum’s execution layer shows how carefully core devs weigh every gas change.

The Hoodi pause reflects that caution. Resolving EIP-8037 will unlock the Q4 2026 mainnet window, December remains a candidate, with a revised Hoodi epoch expected after Devcon (November 3–6).

The Foundation’s broader roadmap stays intact. The Hegota upgrade targets 2027 stablecoin gas payments, and Ethereum is still on course for a fully quantum-resistant L1 by end-2029. The Hoodi pause only shifts the starting line.

Institutional demand for ETH has not cooled. SharpLink deployed $400M of its ETH treasury on-chain via EtherFi and Lido, and BitMine added 12,535 ETH to its treasury.

ETH price reaction to the delay was muted, the issue is testnet-only.