Glamsterdam Is Coming: What Ethereum's Next Hard Fork Means for ETH Holders

Ethereum doesn't stay still for long. Since The Merge in 2022, the network has shipped upgrades at a pace that's made it hard to keep track of what changed, what's live, and what's coming next. If you've been searching for the next Ethereum upgrade, here's the quick answer: Glamsterdam, targeted for mid-2026, is next in line — with another hard fork, Hegota (also called Heze-Bogota), expected before year-end.

But to understand why Glamsterdam matters, you need a brief map of where the network stands today. Pectra launched in May 2025. Fusaka followed in December 2025. Each one moved Ethereum meaningfully forward. Glamsterdam builds on both — and its headline feature, enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS), may be the most structurally significant change to Ethereum's block production since The Merge.

This article covers the full 2026 upgrade timeline, what each fork actually changes, and why any of it matters for ETH holders and users.

What's Already Live: Pectra and Fusaka

Before diving into what's coming, here's where Ethereum actually sits as of mid-2026.

Pectra (May 7, 2025)

Pectra — short for Prague + Electra — was the largest Ethereum hard fork by number of included proposals at the time of launch. It shipped 11 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) covering staking, accounts, and scalability.

The changes that matter most for regular users:

EIP-7702 — Smart account behavior for standard wallets. This lets a normal Ethereum wallet (an externally owned account, or EOA) temporarily behave like a smart contract wallet during a transaction. Practically, this means wallets can now support batched transactions, sponsored gas fees, and session keys without requiring users to migrate to a new wallet type. It's the foundation for dramatically better UX on Ethereum.

EIP-7691 — More blob space. Pectra doubled the target blob count per block from 3 to 6, and raised the maximum from 6 to 9. Blobs are the dedicated data slots Ethereum provides for Layer 2 rollups, introduced in Dencun (March 2024). More blobs means lower L2 transaction fees.

Staking improvements. Validators can now hold up to 2,048 ETH per validator (up from 32), simplifying large-scale staking operations and enabling automatic reward compounding. Validators can also exit directly from the execution layer rather than going through manual processes.

Fusaka (December 3, 2025)

Fusaka — Fulu + Osaka — was the follow-up. Its headline feature was PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling, EIP-7594), a fundamental shift in how Ethereum handles the blob data that L2 rollups rely on.

Before Fusaka, full nodes had to download and store complete blobs to verify availability. PeerDAS lets nodes verify data availability by sampling small random chunks distributed across peers — no single node needs the full dataset. This change unlocked a dramatic expansion in blob capacity: from 6 blobs per block to 48 per block.

Fusaka also increased the block gas limit from 45 million to 150 million, allowing significantly more transactions and computation per block.

The combined effect of Pectra and Fusaka: rollup fees dropped sharply, throughput increased substantially, and staking became more capital-efficient. Ethereum's L2 ecosystem entered 2026 with substantially better infrastructure than it had entering 2025.

Glamsterdam: Ethereum's Next Hard Fork (Mid-2026)

Glamsterdam is the upgrade that comes after Fusaka. It's currently targeted for mid-2026, with the exact mainnet date subject to final testnet outcomes (as is standard for every Ethereum hard fork).

ePBS: Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation

The headline feature of Glamsterdam is ePBS — enshrined proposer-builder separation. To understand why this matters, a bit of context is needed.

Today, when a validator is selected to propose a new block, it doesn't actually build that block itself. Block construction is dominated by a small number of external "builders" — sophisticated entities that optimize block contents for MEV (maximal extractable value). Validators connect to these builders through off-protocol middleware called MEV-Boost. This works, but it means a handful of external actors control how Ethereum's blocks are filled, and the whole system runs outside the protocol's formal guarantees.

ePBS moves this separation into the Ethereum protocol itself. Proposers and builders are formally distinct roles with protocol-level rules governing how they interact. The benefits:

• Decentralization of block production. The current system has effectively concentrated block construction among a few dominant builders. Enshrining the separation with formal protocol rules creates a competitive playing field at the protocol level rather than relying on off-protocol coordination.
• Censorship resistance. External builders can — and occasionally do — selectively exclude transactions. ePBS creates protocol-level guarantees around inclusion that reduce this risk.
• Reduced validator centralization pressure. Validators in the current system are incentivized to maximize MEV by choosing the most profitable builder. ePBS adjusts these incentives at the protocol level.

ePBS has been in research and development for years. Glamsterdam is expected to finally ship it.

Gas Limit and Parallel Processing

Glamsterdam is also targeting further gas limit increases — from Fusaka's 150 million toward a target of 200–300 million. This would again expand raw throughput.

Alongside this, the upgrade is expected to advance work on parallel transaction processing — changes that allow Ethereum nodes to process non-conflicting transactions simultaneously rather than strictly sequentially. This addresses one of the fundamental throughput bottlenecks in EVM execution.

Together, the gas limit increase and parallel processing work would meaningfully increase Ethereum's execution capacity — independent of the rollup-focused improvements already shipped in Pectra and Fusaka.

What Comes After Glamsterdam: Hegota

Following Glamsterdam, Ethereum's roadmap points to Hegota (also referred to as Heze-Bogota) as the next hard fork, currently targeted for late 2026.

The specific EIP list for Hegota is still being finalized, but the focus areas emerging from developer discussions include:

• Interoperability between L2s. One of the remaining friction points in Ethereum's rollup-centric architecture is that different L2 chains don't communicate with each other natively. Hegota is expected to begin addressing cross-rollup interoperability at the protocol level.
• Privacy improvements. Ethereum has long lacked native privacy features. Hegota may incorporate work that enables optional transaction privacy without requiring users to route through separate privacy protocols.
• Rollup maturity. Continued work to reduce the cost and complexity of running rollups and bridging assets between L1 and L2.

Hegota represents the medium-term consolidation phase — building on the scaling infrastructure of Pectra, Fusaka, and Glamsterdam, then adding the interoperability and privacy layer the broader ecosystem still needs.

What This Means for ETH Holders

The cumulative effect of Ethereum's 2025–2026 upgrade schedule is significant:

Lower transaction costs, everywhere. Fusaka's blob expansion dropped L2 fees substantially. Glamsterdam's gas limit increases and parallel processing work will further reduce costs. A cheaper Ethereum is a more competitive Ethereum — against Solana, Tron, and other high-throughput alternatives.

Better wallet UX. EIP-7702 from Pectra is already enabling smarter wallet experiences. As wallets and apps integrate smart account features — batched transactions, sponsored gas, social recovery — onboarding new users becomes less technically demanding.

A more decentralized block production process. ePBS in Glamsterdam directly addresses one of the most credible criticisms of Ethereum's current architecture: that block construction is too centralized. If successful, this makes Ethereum more robustly credibly neutral.

ETH's monetary policy and fee burn. Higher throughput means more transactions, which means more ETH burned via EIP-1559's base fee mechanism. Whether this makes ETH deflationary in any given period depends on network activity, but more capacity generally increases the ceiling for fee revenue and burn.

Understanding the full Ethereum roadmap helps contextualize these individual upgrades. Each hard fork is a step in a longer journey from Ethereum's current architecture toward a fully sharded, rollup-centric, account-abstracted network — a process the core developers describe as the "Splurge," "Scourge," "Purge," and "Verge" phases alongside the ongoing "Surge" scaling work.

For a broader view of how Layer 2 scaling fits into all of this, the context matters: every blob increase and gas limit hike exists to serve rollups, which are where most Ethereum users will eventually live.

FAQ

What is the next Ethereum upgrade in 2026?

The next Ethereum upgrade is Glamsterdam, targeted for mid-2026. Its headline feature is enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS), which moves block construction roles formally into the Ethereum protocol rather than relying on external middleware. It also targets gas limit increases toward 200–300 million and improvements to parallel transaction processing.

What did the Fusaka upgrade change?

Fusaka (December 3, 2025) introduced PeerDAS (Peer Data Availability Sampling), which expanded Ethereum's blob capacity from 6 to 48 blobs per block — dramatically improving throughput for Layer 2 rollups. It also raised the block gas limit from 45 million to 150 million, significantly increasing the network's raw transaction capacity.

What was Pectra and when did it launch?

Pectra (Prague + Electra) launched on May 7, 2025. It was Ethereum's largest upgrade by number of EIPs included, shipping 11 proposals. Key changes: EIP-7702 gave standard wallets smart contract capabilities per transaction; EIP-7691 doubled blob capacity; EIP-7251 raised the validator stake maximum to 2,048 ETH. It was the most significant Ethereum upgrade since The Merge.

What is ePBS in Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade?

ePBS stands for enshrined proposer-builder separation. Currently, block construction on Ethereum is dominated by a small number of external builders operating through MEV-Boost, an off-protocol system. ePBS moves the separation between block proposers (validators) and block builders into the Ethereum protocol itself, with formal rules governing how they interact. The goal is to reduce builder centralization, improve censorship resistance, and create fairer competition in block production.

Does Ethereum's upgrade schedule affect ETH price?

Ethereum upgrades can influence ETH's price trajectory in several ways: lower transaction costs increase network competitiveness and user adoption; higher throughput raises the ceiling for fee revenue and ETH burn via EIP-1559; improvements to decentralization and security strengthen the fundamental investment thesis. That said, macro crypto market conditions, broader risk appetite, and ETH's supply/demand dynamics are typically more immediately impactful than any single upgrade announcement. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.

What comes after Glamsterdam?

After Glamsterdam, Ethereum's current roadmap points to Hegota (also called Heze-Bogota), targeted for late 2026. Hegota is expected to focus on L2 interoperability (cross-rollup communication), privacy improvements, and further rollup maturity work. Specific EIPs are still being finalized by the core developer community.