Ethereum Warns Glamsterdam Upgrade Could Break Wallets and Gas Tools

• Glamsterdam could disrupt wallets and gas tools relying on fixed gas assumptions.
• EIP-8037 adds state gas charges when transactions create new Ethereum state.
• Platåberget gives developers months to test compatibility before broader deployment.

Ethereum developers have warned that the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade could disrupt wallets, indexers and gas estimators using fixed gas assumptions. The warning comes as developers prepare the Platåberget testnet for the upgrade on August 20.

Glamsterdam Upgrade Changes Ethereum Gas Assumptions

The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol DevOps team said tools relying on a hardcoded maximum gas limit may break after Glamsterdam. Developers have therefore been urged to test applications on Platåberget before the changes reach Ethereum’s longer-running testnets.

According to the Ethereum Foundation, Glamsterdam introduces several changes affecting Ethereum’s execution and consensus layers. These include gas repricing, enshrined proposer-builder separation and block-level access lists.

The gas changes could create problems for software built around fixed transaction-cost assumptions. In particular, EIP-8037 introduces a separate state-gas dimension for operations that create new Ethereum state.

An ETH transfer to an existing account will still require 21,000 gas. However, sending ETH to an account that does not exist will incur an additional state-gas charge.

As a result, wallets and gas estimators that assume every ETH transfer costs exactly 21,000 gas may produce inaccurate estimates. Developers will need to account for the additional state-related costs when updating their software.

The changes also affect applications that create accounts, deploy contracts or write new storage. Therefore, developers should review transaction logic and gas calculations before Glamsterdam advances.

Platåberget Provides Early Testing Environment

According to Forkcast, Platåberget launched on Aug. 13 as a public testing environment for Glamsterdam. The testnet is expected to run for several months, giving developers more time to identify compatibility issues before the upgrade advances toward broader deployment. 

The Ethereum Foundation said the Glamsterdam fork is scheduled for August 20 on Platåberget. Developers can also participate by submitting validator and builder deposits through the testnet infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Forkcast tracks the upgrade’s development and planned implementation across Ethereum’s testing networks.

Beyond gas repricing, Glamsterdam will introduce enshrined proposer-builder separation, changing parts of Ethereum’s block-production process. Block-level access lists will also record state locations accessed during block execution.

The upgrade further raises Ethereum’s maximum deployed contract size from 24 KiB to 64 KiB. Initcode limits will increase from 48 KiB to 128 KiB, giving developers more room for larger applications.

After Platåberget testing, Ethereum developers plan additional development networks before Glamsterdam reaches Sepolia and Hoodi. Mainnet deployment will follow only after the changes demonstrate sufficient stability.