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Ethereum Network Upgrade Glamsterdam Prepares for Sepolia Activation to Advance Layer 1 Scalability

by Basiran September 30, 2026

written by Basiran

The Ethereum network is on the precipice of a significant technical evolution as the community prepares for the deployment of the Glamsterdam upgrade. Following the successful implementation of the Fusaka mainnet upgrade on November 6, 2025, developers have set their sights on a series of structural enhancements designed to optimize the network’s Layer 1 (L1) performance. The Glamsterdam upgrade, which merges the Amsterdam execution layer improvements with the Gloas consensus layer advancements, is scheduled to activate on the Sepolia testnet at epoch 353,024, slot 11,296,768, occurring on October 6, 2026, at 13:53:36 UTC.

This milestone represents a concerted effort by the Ethereum core developer community to address long-standing challenges related to block production, validator duties, and the efficient management of state growth. By enshrining proposer-builder separation (ePBS) and implementing block-level access lists, Ethereum is signaling a shift toward a more robust, decentralized, and scalable architecture. While the Sepolia activation serves as the critical proving ground for these changes, dates for the Hoodi testnet and the final Ethereum mainnet deployment remain subject to future coordination among client teams.

The Architectural Vision: Why Glamsterdam?

The name "Glamsterdam" is a portmanteau representing the fusion of the Amsterdam execution layer upgrade and the Gloas consensus layer upgrade, continuing the tradition of naming execution-layer upgrades after cities that have hosted Ethereum developer conferences and consensus-layer upgrades after celestial bodies. Beyond the nomenclature, the upgrade is technically dense, targeting the fundamental mechanics of how blocks are proposed, validated, and recorded on the blockchain.

The primary objective of Glamsterdam is to enhance L1 throughput while maintaining the rigorous security standards that define the Ethereum ecosystem. Historically, Ethereum’s scaling roadmap has moved from the monolithic structures of the early days to a modular, roll-up-centric future. However, the L1 layer remains the essential "settlement" layer. Glamsterdam serves to ensure that this settlement layer remains efficient as the network continues to handle increasing volumes of data and state-intensive applications.

Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS)

At the heart of the Glamsterdam upgrade is EIP-7732, which introduces "enshrined" proposer-builder separation. In the current Ethereum architecture, proposers and builders often rely on external, centralized relayers to facilitate the exchange of block data. This reliance creates a point of vulnerability and potential censorship.

By enshrining this separation directly into the consensus protocol, Ethereum effectively formalizes the relationship between the two roles. A validator, acting as a proposer, will now commit to a builder’s execution payload, and the protocol itself will manage the financial incentives and validation. This shift is designed to reduce the network’s dependence on third-party middleware, thereby bolstering the censorship resistance of the network.

Furthermore, ePBS introduces a separation between consensus validation and execution validation. Under the current system, validators are often under immense time pressure to both propose and validate blocks. With the changes in Glamsterdam, validators are afforded more breathing room to verify the integrity of execution payloads. A "payload timeliness committee" will be established to attest that builders have provided the necessary data within the required time windows. This adjustment is expected to stabilize the network’s block production rate and provide a smoother experience for staking operators.

Enhancing Performance via Block-Level Access Lists

Complementing the ePBS initiative is EIP-7928, which introduces mandatory block-level access lists (BALs). As Ethereum has grown, the state—the collection of account balances, smart contract code, and storage data—has expanded significantly. Accessing this state from disk is one of the most resource-intensive operations for node operators.

BALs allow for the systematic recording of all accounts and storage locations accessed during a single block, along with the subsequent state changes. By having this information clearly mapped out at the block level, client software can execute a paradigm shift: parallelization. Instead of processing transactions and reading state in a strictly sequential, linear fashion, nodes can now read state from disk and validate transactions in parallel. This optimization is critical for maintaining the sustainability of node operations, as it lowers the hardware threshold required to keep pace with the network’s growth.

Repricing and State Growth Management

A recurring theme in Ethereum upgrades is the recalibration of gas pricing to reflect the actual cost of network resources. EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 are central to this effort within the Glamsterdam upgrade. EIP-8037 specifically targets the costs associated with state creation, increasing the gas requirements for operations that contribute to the long-term storage burden of the network. Conversely, EIP-8038 provides a nuanced update to state-access costs, ensuring that the economic incentives for developers align with the technical realities of state management.

For application developers, these changes are not merely cosmetic; they represent a fundamental shift in how smart contracts will interact with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Contracts that have historically relied on fixed gas stipends or hardcoded gas limits may face unexpected failures or performance degradation. The Ethereum Foundation has released a comprehensive "Glamsterdam Repricing Impact Guide," urging developers to conduct rigorous testing before the upgrade goes live. This period of preparation is vital for ensuring that the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and other dApp layers remain functional during and after the transition.

Chronology and Operational Readiness

The journey to the Glamsterdam upgrade has been a multi-year effort of research, proposal, and peer review. Following the successful integration of the Fusaka upgrade, the core development team shifted focus to the integration of these more complex EIPs.

Late 2025: Formalization of the EIP-7732 (ePBS) and EIP-7928 (BALs) specifications.
Early 2026: Initial client implementation and simulation testing on developer testnets.
Q3 2026: Release of client versions (e.g., Prysm 7.2.0, Teku 26.9.1) incorporating the Glamsterdam fork.
October 6, 2026: Scheduled activation on the Sepolia testnet.
Post-October 2026: Monitoring of Sepolia performance, potential adjustments, and subsequent scheduling for the Hoodi testnet and Mainnet.

Node operators, particularly those running validators, are advised to act with urgency. Both the consensus layer beacon node and the validator client software must be updated to versions that explicitly support the Glamsterdam fork. For instance, specific configuration changes regarding gas limits—such as the adjustment for the 200M gas limit in Prysm and Teku—are mandatory for validators who wish to optimize their participation in the new proposer environment.

Industry Implications and Expert Perspectives

The broader implications of the Glamsterdam upgrade extend to the long-term viability of the Ethereum roadmap. By addressing the "state explosion" problem and decentralizing the proposer-builder relationship, Ethereum is effectively hardening itself against the risks of centralization.

Industry analysts observe that while these upgrades introduce complexity, they are essential for the next phase of Ethereum’s adoption. By increasing the capacity for parallel execution, Ethereum is preparing to serve as a more robust foundation for the various Layer 2 scaling solutions (Rollups) that rely on it for finality. "The transition to a more efficient, parallelized, and decentralized block production model is the logical progression of the Ethereum roadmap," notes an observer familiar with the core development process. "The challenges inherent in these upgrades, such as the repricing of gas, are simply the costs of maintaining a healthy, sustainable, and scalable public blockchain."

Security and Governance

Security remains a paramount concern throughout the deployment process. The Ethereum Bug Bounty Program has been expanded to cover the new specifications introduced in Glamsterdam. This program serves as a critical line of defense, incentivizing independent researchers and white-hat hackers to identify vulnerabilities before the code reaches the mainnet.

The governance process behind Glamsterdam highlights the decentralized nature of Ethereum’s development. There is no single "CEO" of Ethereum; instead, the upgrade is the result of continuous coordination between client teams, researchers, and the wider community. This consensus-based model, while sometimes slower than centralized alternatives, ensures that the resulting upgrades are resilient and broadly supported. As noted in the frequently asked questions provided by the Ethereum Foundation, the success of these upgrades depends entirely on the voluntary participation of node operators who must explicitly choose to adopt the new protocol rules.

Conclusion

As the October 6, 2026, activation date for the Sepolia testnet approaches, the focus is squarely on operational readiness and technical validation. The Glamsterdam upgrade is a testament to the Ethereum community’s ability to iterate on a live, global system without compromising its core tenets of decentralization and security. By integrating ePBS and BALs, and by carefully recalibrating the network’s economic model, Ethereum continues to refine its role as the world’s leading programmable blockchain.

For the average ETH holder or user, the upgrade will be transparent; no action is required to secure funds or manage assets. However, for the ecosystem of developers, stakers, and node operators, Glamsterdam marks the beginning of a more performant and sustainable era for the network. As the community moves toward the eventual mainnet launch, the data gathered from the Sepolia activation will prove invaluable, ensuring that Ethereum remains the premier environment for decentralized innovation. The path forward is clearly defined, and with the rigorous testing protocols currently in place, the network is well-positioned to meet the demands of an increasingly digital future.

September 30, 2026 0 comment

Japanese & Asian Crypto Markets

26 Major Japanese Companies Join Forces with Digital Currency Forum to Advance EJPY Stablecoin Project

by Suro Senen September 25, 2026

written by Suro Senen

The landscape of Japanese digital finance is undergoing a significant transformation as the Digital Currency Forum, a collaborative body comprising some of the nation’s most prominent financial and technological institutions, officially announced the expansion of its stablecoin initiative. On September 24, 2026, the organization confirmed that 26 major Japanese corporations have joined the project focused on the development and practical implementation of the EJPY stablecoin. This move marks a pivotal step in Japan’s broader strategy to integrate blockchain technology into its established financial infrastructure, aiming to leverage the efficiency of decentralized ledgers while maintaining the regulatory rigor expected of a global economic powerhouse.

The Strategic Vision Behind the EJPY Initiative

At its core, the EJPY project is designed to bridge the gap between traditional financial settlements and the emerging Web3 ecosystem. Unlike volatile, speculative cryptocurrencies that dominate public discourse, the EJPY stablecoin is engineered as a Real World Asset (RWA) token, pegged to the Japanese Yen. The project is facilitated through the Japan Open Chain (JOC), a high-performance blockchain infrastructure designed specifically for enterprise-grade applications. By utilizing the JOC network, the participating firms intend to create a seamless, interoperable environment where digital payments can be executed with speed, transparency, and, most importantly, legal certainty.

The inclusion of 26 major industry players—ranging from banking giants and telecommunications leaders to specialized technology firms—underscores a shift in the corporate appetite for blockchain adoption. These entities are not merely exploring the technology; they are actively building the foundational layer of a digitized national currency system. The primary objective is to streamline the settlement of inter-company transactions, potentially reducing the friction, time, and administrative costs currently associated with legacy banking systems.

A Chronology of Progress

The development of the EJPY stablecoin has been a multi-phased endeavor, characterized by careful planning and regulatory alignment. The Digital Currency Forum has operated under a strict timeline to ensure that the infrastructure meets the high standards of the Japanese Financial Services Agency (FSA).

May 2026: The forum formally announced the first phase of the proof-of-concept (PoC) for the EJPY stablecoin. This initial stage focused on testing the technical viability of the Japan Open Chain for high-frequency settlement.
Summer 2026: Throughout the months leading up to the September expansion, the project underwent rigorous stress testing, focusing on cross-chain interoperability and the integration of smart contracts with existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
September 24, 2026: The formal announcement regarding the 26 corporate partners. This expansion represents the transition from a closed-loop experiment to a wide-scale industry collaboration, inviting a diverse range of sectors to participate in the ecosystem.
Late 2026 to Early 2027: The current roadmap dictates that this period will be dedicated to the full-scale deployment of the stablecoin in live, albeit controlled, business environments. This phase will prioritize security, liquidity management, and final regulatory approval.

Notable Participants and Industry Synergy

The strength of the EJPY project lies in the diversity of its participants. The 26 companies involved bring a unique set of expertise to the table, creating a robust ecosystem. Among the key players are industry leaders such as Q’sfix, SCSK, Tranzax, LYST, and QUICK. These companies provide the necessary infrastructure for financial data management, cloud computing, and payment processing.

Furthermore, firms like insprout, Casley Deep Innovations, and various telecommunications leaders are contributing to the development of the user-facing applications and the middleware that will connect the blockchain to the everyday business operations of the participating companies. By integrating sectors as varied as logistics, telecommunications, and finance, the Digital Currency Forum is ensuring that the EJPY stablecoin will have immediate utility upon launch. This collaborative approach minimizes the risks of fragmentation, as all participants are operating under the same technical and governance standards established by the JOC.

Technical Implications and the RWA Framework

The decision to categorize EJPY as an RWA token is a calculated move to align with global trends in institutional finance. Real World Asset tokenization allows firms to represent physical or traditional financial assets on a blockchain, facilitating fractional ownership and instant settlement. In the context of EJPY, this means that the stablecoin is backed by actual yen deposits held in regulated, secure accounts, ensuring a 1:1 parity with the fiat currency.

This framework is essential for achieving the trust required for mass adoption. By implementing strict identity verification (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols, the project ensures that all transactions are traceable and compliant with Japanese law. The use of the Japan Open Chain provides a permissioned environment, which is often preferred by large enterprises over fully decentralized, public blockchains that may pose security and compliance risks.

Broader Impact on the Japanese Economy

The successful implementation of the EJPY project could have profound implications for the Japanese financial sector. Currently, domestic inter-company settlements are often slow and reliant on aging infrastructure. By migrating these processes to a blockchain-based stablecoin, companies could realize significant savings in transaction fees and liquidity management.

Moreover, the project positions Japan as a leader in the development of "Programmable Money." Unlike traditional digital payments, EJPY allows for the inclusion of programmable logic within the transaction itself. For example, a payment could be set to trigger automatically upon the verification of a digital bill of lading, thereby automating supply chain finance and reducing the reliance on manual reconciliation processes.

Industry analysts suggest that this project serves as a "living laboratory" for how modern economies can modernize their financial systems. While the project is currently limited to corporate and enterprise-level use cases, the infrastructure being built today provides the scalability required for potential future expansion into retail consumer markets.

Regulatory and Future Outlook

The Digital Currency Forum has maintained a transparent relationship with regulators, ensuring that every step of the EJPY project complies with the existing legal framework. The focus remains on "safety first," with a cautious, incremental approach to expansion. The goal is not to disrupt the banking sector, but to augment it with more efficient, transparent, and modern tools.

As we look toward the remainder of 2026 and into 2027, the focus for the 26 partner companies will be the successful execution of these pilot programs. The data gathered during this period will be instrumental in refining the technical architecture and establishing the policy framework for a broader rollout. Should the EJPY project prove successful, it may well serve as a blueprint for other nations looking to modernize their financial systems through the adoption of regulated, institutional-grade stablecoins.

The collaborative spirit displayed by these 26 major corporations signals a clear message to the international community: Japan is committed to leading the charge in the evolution of digital finance, balancing the spirit of innovation with the necessity of institutional stability. The coming months will be a defining period, as the theory of the EJPY stablecoin is tested against the realities of the global market, setting the stage for a potentially landmark shift in how money moves in the digital age.

September 25, 2026 0 comment

Ethereum & Smart Contracts

Better.codes launches as an open autoresearch challenge to advance formal verification of SNARK security bounds

by Lina Hope September 11, 2026

written by Lina Hope

The Ethereum Foundation’s Formal Verification team, in a strategic partnership with research firms Yukon and zkSecurity, has officially launched better.codes, an open-access "autoresearch" platform designed to accelerate the formal verification of cryptographic proof systems. By gamifying the advancement of machine-checked soundness bounds for Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge (SNARKs), the project seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical conjecture and verifiable mathematical certainty in the rapidly evolving landscape of zero-knowledge proofs.

The Cryptographic Security Imperative

At the heart of the initiative is the "koalaIRS12" challenge, which targets a critical component of modern blockchain infrastructure: Reed-Solomon proximity testing. Many of the most advanced proof systems currently securing zkRollups, zero-knowledge virtual machines (zkVMs), and post-quantum cryptographic roadmaps rely on specific assumptions regarding proximity gaps and correlated agreement.

While these systems are widely deployed, their security is often predicated on conjectures that remain unproven or are only partially understood. Industry standards typically target a 128-bit security level, a benchmark that ensures the mathematical impossibility of forging a proof within current computational limits. However, the theoretical foundations of these bounds are often narrower than the practical implementations suggest. By utilizing the Lean theorem prover—a rigorous language and environment for mathematical proofs—better.codes provides a mechanism to convert these loose conjectures into concrete, machine-verified theorems.

Chronology of the Proximity Prize Initiative

The launch of better.codes is the latest milestone in a broader, year-long effort by the Ethereum Foundation to fortify the mathematical underpinnings of the ecosystem. The timeline of this research trajectory reflects a growing emphasis on formal rigor:

Early 2024: The Ethereum Foundation formally announces the Proximity Prize initiative, a research-heavy program dedicated to solving long-standing open problems in list decoding and correlated agreement.
Mid-2024: Researchers Gal Arnon, Dan Boneh, and Giacomo Fenzi publish "Open Problems in List Decoding and Correlated Agreement," a foundational document detailing the grand challenges that must be addressed to secure next-generation SNARKs.
Late 2024: ArkLib, a Lean 4-based library for verified arguments of knowledge, is integrated into the research workflow, providing a standardized environment for formalizing proof systems.
Present: The activation of better.codes allows for a decentralized, crowdsourced approach to solving the specific koalaIRS12 problem, moving the needle on the 128-bit security target through incremental, iterative submissions.

The Autoresearch Model: A New Paradigm

The platform’s "autoresearch" model represents a departure from traditional, siloed academic research. Instead of relying on a single research team to solve a complex proof, better.codes invites independent participants to point their own artificial intelligence agents, specialized heuristics, and automated reasoning tools at the challenge.

This approach acknowledges that no single computational strategy is optimal for every mathematical problem. By creating a public, version-controlled leaderboard where every successful submission increases the "floor" of proven security, the project effectively turns global research efforts into a collective pipeline. When a solver submits a proof that passes the Lean kernel’s rigorous verification process, the new lemmas and proof techniques are upstreamed into the public repository. This ensures that future solvers do not repeat past mistakes, allowing the community to bypass dead ends and focus on progressively deeper layers of the mathematical structure.

Technical Context: Why Lean Matters

The reliance on Lean is not incidental. In the field of cryptography, a "proof" found in a PDF file or a peer-reviewed paper may still contain subtle, high-level logical errors that are difficult for human reviewers to catch. Formal verification eliminates this margin of error. When a proof is written in Lean, it is mathematically verified by a computer kernel. If the code compiles, the theorem is objectively true within the axioms defined.

For high-stakes infrastructure like Ethereum, this transition from "peer-reviewed" to "machine-verified" is a significant shift in risk management. The koalaIRS12 challenge requires solvers to navigate the complexities of Reed-Solomon proximity, specifically aiming to improve the soundness bound toward the 128-bit target. As participants iterate on these bounds, they are not merely performing a coding exercise; they are hardening the core security assumptions that underpin the future of private, scalable decentralized finance.

Industry Impact and Broader Implications

The implications of better.codes extend beyond the Ethereum ecosystem. As organizations and governments globally transition toward post-quantum cryptography, the demand for verified, high-assurance proof systems will only increase. Projects like ecdsa.fail, zk.golf, and snark.fast have previously demonstrated that open, incentive-aligned challenges can significantly accelerate innovation in circuit design and proving speed.

By integrating AI agents into this process, the Ethereum Foundation is tapping into a nascent trend of "AI-assisted mathematics." While AI models have historically struggled with the rigorous, error-intolerant nature of formal proof languages, tools like Lean are increasingly becoming the benchmark for evaluating AI’s logical reasoning capabilities. If better.codes succeeds in raising the soundness bound for koalaIRS12, it will provide a proof-of-concept for how human-AI collaboration can solve intractable problems in theoretical computer science.

Official Stance and Participation

The platform maintains a transparent, git-backed structure to ensure accountability. Participation is open to any researcher or engineer capable of interacting with the Lean environment. Each submission is credited to both the solver and the specific AI model or methodology used, fostering a culture of attribution and peer-to-peer knowledge sharing.

According to the organizers, the current focus on the 128-bit target is merely the beginning. The roadmap for better.codes suggests that once the current challenge matures, additional, more complex mathematical hurdles will be introduced. While the program’s terms regarding eligibility and potential rewards are managed by the Foundation, the primary incentive for many participants is the opportunity to contribute to a foundational, permanent artifact of cryptographic progress.

Conclusion

As the industry moves toward more complex and efficient proof systems, the need for formal verification is becoming paramount. better.codes addresses this need by democratizing the research process and applying the latest in automated theorem proving to some of the most pressing questions in cryptography. By turning the search for soundness into an open-source, collaborative challenge, the Ethereum Foundation and its partners are not just attempting to solve a single problem—they are building a new, more robust infrastructure for the future of digital verification. For those looking to participate, the repository is accessible via the better.codes portal, marking the beginning of an ongoing, public-facing effort to secure the mathematical foundations of the decentralized web.

September 11, 2026 0 comment