After this upgrade we will find out whether Ethereum can be safely scaled to much higher base layer throughput without destroying decentralization and without raising hardware requirements for the network too much.
Two pillars of Glamsterdam
The first is ePBS. Simply put, it’s about a clearer separation of two roles: some network participants choose the block, while others assemble it. Today a large part of this process is handled by additional external infrastructure. After the change, most of these rules would be embedded directly into Ethereum itself. For the market this means an attempt to simplify one of the most important elements of network operation.
The second pillar is block‑level access lists, i.e. a list of the data a block will want to access in the network. This can be compared to a situation where the system receives a list of drawers to open beforehand, instead of searching for everything during work. As a result, some operations can be prepared in advance, data can be fetched faster, and the entire process can be scaled more easily. In other words, Ethereum is trying to remove one of the main bottlenecks before it starts raising throughput even more.
What changes can be expected?
If this plan works, the effect should not be limited to the slogan “faster network”. For the end user the most important thing may be that Ethereum wants to create conditions for further growth of the gas limit, i.e. the amount of work the network can perform in a single block, and for more predictable application costs. The official roadmap still shows Glamsterdam as an upgrade “in development”, and ethereum.org materials explicitly link it to parallel processing, cheaper simple ETH transfers, and preparation for larger scale of the entire L1.
Ethereum has long been charged with two things at once: the cost of using the network and whether the main chain can maintain relevance amid the growing role of L2. Glamsterdam therefore looks like an attempt to strengthen the foundation, not just a cosmetic upgrade. Pectra improved wallet convenience and staking, Fusaka increased data handling capabilities, and Glamsterdam aims to go one level lower and hit the core block‑building mechanism and data access needed for the network to operate.
When could it go live?
The official ethereum.org roadmap still shows Glamsterdam as a target for H1 2026, but newer materials from May 10 and 11, 2026 describe primarily working test environments, progress on ePBS, and preparations for the next testing stages. This means the work is advanced, but the mainnet launch date has not yet been clearly announced.
As of May 20, 2026, Glamsterdam is already in an active preparation phase for deployment, but without a confirmed mainnet launch date. The market may play for the second half of the year, but officially we still speak of an ongoing process rather than a confirmed date of implementation.
Could these changes affect ETH price?
Regarding the impact on ETH price, forecasts are today clearly divided. The more cautious camp says the upgrade alone is not enough. JPMorgan wrote on May 19, 2026, that ether without a clear rebound in network activity, DeFi, and real use cases may remain weaker than Bitcoin, and earlier upgrades did not automatically translate into sustained network usage growth. From that point of view Glamsterdam would be more of a foundation‑improvement condition than a simple price‑boost trigger.
In speculative scenarios for 2026, Glamsterdam appears as one of several market catalysts. After deployment, however, the market will look for answers on whether network activity, ETH burning, and demand for the entire Ethereum ecosystem will truly increase and its competitiveness will rise.
