Ethereum developers have postponed the planned Glamsterdam upgrade on the Hoodi testnet while they investigate how a state-growth proposal interacts with existing smart contracts. The Ethereum Foundation said the testnet activation, previously scheduled for October 26 at 17:42:48 UTC, will not proceed at epoch 132,352. A replacement date has not been set. The decision followed discussion at the October 22 All Core Devs Execution meeting and keeps a major protocol package in testing while developers examine the compatibility questions.

What changed on Hoodi

The postponement removes three scheduled changes from Hoodi at the original activation point: the Amsterdam execution-layer upgrade, the Gloas consensus-layer upgrade and an increase in the network's gas limit to 200 million. It is not a rollback of Hoodi's chain history, and the testnet will continue operating. The Foundation told node operators to install updated client releases that no longer contain the October 26 fork schedule. Operators need to update both the execution and consensus clients in their setups, making this an operational change rather than a passive calendar adjustment.

Related reporting: Ethereum Sets October 26 Hoodi Test for Glamsterdam Upgrade

Why EIP-8037 is under review

The Foundation said developers need more time to investigate EIP-8037's interactions with mainnet smart contracts. The proposal changes how Ethereum charges for creating and expanding state, including contract code and storage. Ethereum's Stateless Consensus work describes the mechanism as a dynamic cost-per-byte that can rise with the block gas limit. Its purpose is to keep state growth economically constrained as network capacity increases. Changes to gas accounting can nevertheless affect assumptions built into deployed contracts, so developers are reviewing those interactions before using Hoodi for the upgrade rehearsal. The announcement does not describe an exploited vulnerability or a loss of funds.

What operators should do

Hoodi operators should follow the release notes for the clients they run and confirm that both layers have been updated. The Foundation's announcement listed replacement releases for several clients, including Lodestar 1.50.1, Besu 26.10.1, Ethrex 30.0.1-rc.2 and Nethermind 2.2.1, while noting that its table was not yet complete. Operators should therefore rely on their own client teams for the latest software instructions rather than assuming every implementation has published a final replacement build. Running software that still expects the cancelled activation could leave a node on the wrong configuration when the original epoch arrives.

No immediate action for mainnet users

The delay applies to the Hoodi testnet. Ethereum mainnet users and ETH holders do not need to take action, and a mainnet date for Glamsterdam had not been set. Hoodi is intended to expose upgrade issues before code reaches the production network, so postponing a rehearsal is part of the testnet's safety function. Independent reporting from The Defiant also confirmed the cancellation of the October 26 activation and the instruction for operators to move to software without the scheduled fork.

The schedule remains open

Developers still intend to activate the Amsterdam and Gloas changes on Hoodi, but the next date will depend on the outcome of the smart-contract compatibility review and updated client readiness. That leaves the broader Glamsterdam timetable uncertain rather than abandoned. The immediate consequence is a pause for testnet infrastructure providers and client teams, not a change to Ethereum's live monetary policy or transaction rules. A revised activation plan will be the next concrete milestone to watch.

Sources

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