Ethereum Glamsterdam Goes Live on Sepolia on 6 October
Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade went live on the Sepolia testnet at 13:53:36 UTC on 6 October 2026 and kept finalising. Mainnet still has no date.
Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade went live on the Sepolia test network at 13:53:36 UTC (19:23 IST) on Tuesday, 6 October 2026, at epoch 353,024, exactly as the Ethereum Foundation had scheduled. The test chain kept finalising blocks after the fork, with no stall, and its block gas limit began rising from 60 million towards 200 million. No date has been set for the Hoodi testnet or for Ethereum mainnet.
Key takeaways
- The fork activated at slot 11,296,768. About an hour later the last finalised epoch was 353,031, seven epochs after the fork, a sign of a healthy chain.
- Glamsterdam bundles 18 Ethereum Improvement Proposals. The biggest are enshrined proposer-builder separation (EIP-7732) and block-level access lists (EIP-7928).
- A last-minute release of the Prysm client on 5 October added Sepolia's planned gas-limit schedule; without it, validators would have stayed at 60 million unless changed by hand.
- Simple ETH transfers between existing accounts get up to 71% cheaper in base cost under EIP-2780, once the upgrade reaches mainnet.
- ETH holders do not need to do anything. Anyone asking you to "upgrade" your ETH is running a scam.
What happened on Sepolia on 6 October
Glamsterdam's Sepolia fork was the first run of the upgrade on one of Ethereum's two long-lived public testnets, after months of testing on short-lived developer networks since March. The Ethereum Foundation set the date in its testnet announcement in September, and the fork arrived on time. Within about an hour the chain head was 306 slots past the fork and finality was holding.
The clean start mattered because earlier tests were rougher. On one developer network, a caching bug in builder-deposit handling stalled finality at the fork transition and affected three consensus clients: Lighthouse, Prysm and Teku. Sepolia-ready client releases were due by 29 September, leaving node operators about seven days to upgrade instead of the usual 14. Prysm's version 7.2.1, released on 5 October, fixed issues with the first post-fork block and historical state replay as well as the gas-limit schedule.
The numbers
The key figures from Glamsterdam's Sepolia activation, as of 8 October 2026, are below.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Activation time | 13:53:36 UTC (19:23 IST), 6 October 2026 |
| Epoch and slot | 353,024 and 11,296,768 |
| Finality | Last finalised epoch 353,031 about an hour after the fork |
| EIPs included | 18 |
| Block gas limit | 60 million rising to a 200 million target, more than three times mainnet |
| Block use, early 8 October | About 26% to 46% of capacity in sampled blocks |
| Maximum contract size | About 24 KiB raised to 64 KiB (EIP-7954) |
| Hoodi and mainnet dates | Not confirmed |
What Glamsterdam changes
Glamsterdam's biggest change, enshrined proposer-builder separation, moves the hand-off between specialist block builders and validators into Ethereum's own rules, so the network no longer relies on third-party relays. It also gives validators far more time to receive and check each block's contents. Block-level access lists make every block declare the accounts and storage it touches, so nodes can load data ahead of time and process unrelated transactions in parallel. Gas prices are rebalanced as well: creating new state and some storage reads cost more, while simple transfers cost less. A higher gas limit does not mean three times as many transactions, because some operations now use more gas. Developers have been told to retest apps that assume fixed gas costs.
Why it matters for Indian investors
For Indian ETH holders, the Sepolia fork changes nothing today. Testnet coins have no value, your ETH balance on an exchange or wallet stays the same, and no swap or upgrade is needed. Scammers use upgrades as bait, so ignore any message, app or "support agent" that asks for your seed phrase or tells you to move ETH for Glamsterdam; our guide on how to avoid crypto scams in India lists the warning signs.
The practical gain comes later, if the upgrade reaches mainnet: cheaper simple transfers and more block space could lower network fees for moving ETH. Exchange withdrawal fees are set by each exchange, though, as our explainer on why withdrawal fees are high explains. Ether traded near $2,715 on Binance when the fork went live and at $2,474 at 22:23 UTC on 8 October, about ₹2.40 lakh at ₹96.83 to the dollar, after a broad market sell-off on 7 October. The live price is ₹2,40,887 on our Ethereum price in INR page. Gains on ETH are taxed at 30% plus 4% cess, with 1% TDS on transfers and no set-off of losses.
What to watch next
- Hoodi testnet: developers have discussed a late-October date, with 26 and 27 October both mentioned, but nothing is confirmed and it depends on how Sepolia performs.
- Mainnet: Ethereum's roadmap page lists the fourth quarter of 2026 as expected, with no confirmed date. Mainnet follows only after Sepolia and Hoodi are stable.
- Full blocks: whether Sepolia runs smoothly when blocks fill closer to the 200 million limit.
- Background: our earlier report on the Glamsterdam schedule and our guide to what Ethereum is.
FAQ
Did the Glamsterdam upgrade go live on 6 October 2026?
Yes, but only on the Sepolia test network, at 13:53:36 UTC (19:23 IST). It is not live on Ethereum mainnet, and no mainnet date has been set.
Do I need to do anything with my ETH for Glamsterdam?
No. ETH balances stay the same and no conversion is needed. Only node operators and stakers running their own validators must update their software.
When will Glamsterdam launch on Ethereum mainnet?
No date is confirmed. Ethereum's roadmap lists the fourth quarter of 2026 as expected, after the Hoodi testnet upgrades and stays stable.
This article is AI-assisted, educational and general in nature. It is not financial advice and never a guarantee of profit. Every trade is at your own risk on your own exchange. See our risk disclosure and editorial policy.
