Ethereum Developers Face Timeline Pressure on Glamsterdam Upgrade

Source: TheCryptoUpdates Original Title: Original Link:

Overview

Ethereum developers are facing significant timeline pressure regarding their next major upgrade, called Glamsterdam. There’s a real possibility that some key features might not be ready by the mid-2026 deadline, according to Christine D. Kim from Protocol Watch.

During recent developer calls, the team acknowledged that several planned improvements won’t fit the current timeline. This echoes challenges faced during the previous Pectra upgrade.

Key Features at Risk

Two main components are causing concern:

EIP 7732 addresses enshrined proposer-builder separation, which is critical for mitigating manipulation risks in transaction processing. If not completed in time, it may be removed from Glamsterdam or have its scope reduced.

EIP-7928 focuses on block-level access lists, enabling the network to process more transactions simultaneously and improve overall capacity. However, technical communication issues between different client teams are slowing progress.

Testing Challenges

December’s stress testing revealed additional problems, particularly with the Teku client. The Teku team has requested a pause on mainnet testing while they resolve issues. Notably, no team has yet delivered a fully functional version of partial cell proofs, which is essential for supporting increased data storage on the network.

The Broader Context

Glamsterdam represents Ethereum’s first test of a new upgrade cadence—major updates twice per year instead of the previous schedule. This faster pace was introduced in 2025 to deliver improvements more regularly.

Delays to Glamsterdam could cascade to the next upgrade, Hegota. While developers haven’t officially announced scope changes, they’ve agreed to reassess the situation by end of February.

Some teams like Nimbus and Lodestar have made preliminary progress, while others are still catching up. The protocol coordination lead is encouraging proposal authors to present alternative approaches that might deliver value without the same technical barriers.

Perspective

Scaling back an upgrade isn’t necessarily negative. Shipping a solid, limited release often proves more valuable than an ambitious but buggy one. Network stability should take priority over arbitrary deadlines. This situation will be telling for how Ethereum manages timeline pressures under its new twice-yearly upgrade schedule.