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Ethereum protocol upgrades

by Ethereum FoundationCH

ScalingStage 5 of 5

Fusaka live since Dec 2025. Glamsterdam targets the Sepolia testnet on 6 Oct 2026; mainnet not yet dated.

Updated 3 Sep 2026Checked 25 Sep0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Glamsterdam: built-in block auctions (ePBS) and access lists
  1. Mainnet launch (Frontier)30 Jul 2015Complete.
  2. The Merge: switch to proof-of-stake15 Sep 2022Complete.
  3. Shapella: staking withdrawals enabled12 Apr 2023Complete.
  4. Dencun: blobs, cheap data space for rollups13 Mar 2024Complete.
  5. Pectra: smart accounts, bigger validator stakes (2048 ETH)7 May 2025Complete.
  6. Fusaka: PeerDAS data sampling3 Dec 2025Complete.
  7. Glamsterdam: built-in block auctions (ePBS) and access listsTarget Dec 2026+6 mooriginally Jun 2026Current milestone.

Most important updates

  • 3 Sep 2026
  • 3 Dec 2025
  • 7 May 2025
  • 13 Mar 2024
  • 12 Apr 2023

Upcoming

  1. Q4 2026Glamsterdam mainnet activation target; no date set yet (next)
  2. 6 Oct 2026Glamsterdam activates on the Sepolia testnet (13:53 UTC), if the last devnets are stable
  3. 27 Oct 2026Glamsterdam on the Hoodi testnet (tentative date from core-dev calls)
  4. Dec 2026Glamsterdam: built-in block auctions (ePBS) and access lists+6 mooriginally Jun 2026

Current obstacles

  • Coordinating many client teamsEvery upgrade must be built identically by many independent teams, which slows delivery. Glamsterdam slipped from mid-2026.
  • State growthMore capacity means more data every full node must store. 'Stateless' designs that fix this are still in development.

Physics limits

  • Many voters make finality slowBlocks are final once two-thirds of all stake has voted. With about a million validator keys, each votes once per 32-slot epoch and finality takes two epochs, ~13 minutes. Faster needs fewer voters or more bandwidth.
  • Every node re-checks every blockThroughput is capped by what an ordinary computer can execute, store and download in each 12-second slot. Until ZK proofs let nodes verify without re-running, raising limits pushes out small nodes.
  • Light speed sets a floor on slot timeA block must reach validators worldwide before they vote. Signals in fibre need ~100 ms to cross half the globe, and several such hops fit in each slot, so slots can't shrink to milliseconds.

How it works

4 parts
An Intel NUC mini PC, the kind of small home computer many solo stakers use to run an Ethereum node and validator
An Intel NUC mini PC, the kind of small home computer many solo stakers use to run an Ethereum node and validatorPhoto: Laserlicht · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens commons.wikimedia.org)
Execution

The EVM runs transactions

Every transaction runs in the Ethereum Virtual Machine, a shared computer that updates everyone's balances and contract data.

Consensus

Staked validators vote each slot

A random validator proposes each block and committees vote on it. Blocks are final once two-thirds of stake agrees.

Data layer

Blobs for rollups

Rollups post batches as blobs. Blobs are deleted after ~18 days, but a fingerprint stays forever, so the data can still be verified.

Sampling

PeerDAS

Blob data is split into pieces with backup copies. Each node checks a few random pieces. If they're all there, the full data almost surely is.

Spec sheet

SpecEthereum protocol upgrades
Slot time12 sR (reported)
Epoch length32 slots (6.4 min)R (reported)
Typical finality~13 min (2 epochs)R (reported)
Validator stake32 ETH min, 2048 ETH max effectiveR (reported)
Blob target / max per block (Pectra)6 / 9R (reported)
Blob size128 KiBR (reported)
Block gas limit60MR (reported)

R reported by the company

Papers & demos

3 items
  1. Sep 2023code
    EIP-7594: PeerDAS (opens eips.ethereum.org)Lets nodes check blob data by sampling pieces. Shipped in Fusaka.
  2. Feb 2022code
    EIP-4844: Shard Blob Transactions (proto-danksharding) (opens eips.ethereum.org)Added blobs, cutting rollup data costs about 10-fold.
  3. Mar 2020paper
    Combining GHOST and Casper (Gasper) (opens arxiv.org)The formal spec of Ethereum's proof-of-stake voting.

Update log

6 updates

Thu 3 Sep

  • Minor: PressSoftware

Wed 3 Dec 2025

  • Major: BlogSoftware

Wed 7 May 2025

  • Major: BlogSoftware

Wed 13 Mar 2024

  • Major: BlogSoftware

Wed 12 Apr 2023

  • Major: BlogSoftware

Thu 15 Sep 2022

  • Major: BlogSoftware

About Ethereum Foundation

The team behind Ethereum protocol upgrades

Ethereum Foundation

Ethereum research and upgrades

Swiss non-profit that funds research and coordinates upgrades to Ethereum, the largest blockchain for smart contracts. It doesn't control the network: independent software teams ship each upgrade. Its plan is to scale through rollups while keeping it cheap to run a validator at home.

  • The Merge (15 Sept 2022) switched Ethereum to proof of stake, cutting energy use by ~99.9%.
  • Fusaka (Dec 2025) lets nodes check rollup data by sampling pieces instead of downloading it all.
  • Glamsterdam, the next upgrade, is on test networks, with mainnet targeted for late 2026.

ethereum.foundation (opens ethereum.foundation)Company profile →

Founded
201412 yrs
Headquarters
Switzerland
Status
Private
Valuation
private
Works in
CryptoBlockchains (L1s)
Coverage
2 programs · 11 updateslatest 3 Sep 2026checked 25 Sep
Partners
Coinbase (Base)Eigen LabsStarkWare
People
Vitalik Buterin (opens en.wikipedia.org)Co-founder of EthereumAya MiyaguchiPresidentHsiao-Wei WangCo-Executive Director
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