Ethereum Foundation Hits Glamsterdam Milestones Amid L2 Fee Drop
Ethereum Foundation developers confirmed key progress on the Glamsterdam network upgrade this week, establishing a 200 million gas limit floor target while multi-client devnets run stably.[1][2] The update coincides with Layer 2 fees falling 30% over the past month, signaling accelerated volume shift from mainnet to rollups.[3] This dual development underscores Ethereum’s scalability pivot, boosting L2 efficiency as base layer upgrades loom for H1 2026.
Overview
- Glamsterdam devnet-2 live with stable multi-client operation, confirming ePBS workflows and EIP-8037 gas repricing.[1][4]
- Post-upgrade gas limit floor set at 200 million, up from current ~60 million, to expand L1 throughput.[2][5]
- ePBS (EIP-7732) finalized, extending data propagation to 9 seconds for higher blob capacity and L2 support.[6]
- Leadership shift: Will Corcoran, Kev Wedderburn, and Fredrik Svantes named Protocol Cluster co-leads.[7]
- Mainnet target slips to Q3 2026 per commentators, following Soldøgn interop event in early May.[8]
- L2 fees dropped 30% in past 30 days, per DeFiLlama data, as TVL rises 15% to $45 billion.[9]
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Glamsterdam reorganizes Ethereum’s block creation and verification to enable parallel transaction processing and sustainable state growth. Developers tested these changes at a Svalbard engineering event, achieving stable enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation across clients.[7] EIP-8037 adjusts fees to reflect long-term storage costs, mitigating bloat risks at higher gas limits.[4]
The upgrade builds directly on 2025’s Fusaka fork, prioritizing L1 scaling via “Scale L1” and “Scale Blobs” goals.[10] This includes reducing intrinsic gas costs by up to 71% for standard transfers under EIP-2780 proposals.[10] Hegotá, now a late-2026 cleanup fork, absorbs deferred features like FOCIL and account abstraction.[2]
L2 Fees Plunge as Volume Migrates
Layer 2 networks saw average fees drop 30% to $0.15 per transaction in the past month, according to DeFiLlama metrics, even as daily volume hit 1.2 million txns.[9] Arbitrum and Optimism led the decline, with fees falling 35% and 28%, respectively, amid TVL growth.[9] Mainnet transaction count dipped 12% year-over-year, while L2s captured 85% of DeFi activity.[11]
Data from Dune Analytics shows L2s processing 4x more transactions than Ethereum mainnet daily. This shift reduces reliance on base layer capacity, aligning with Glamsterdam’s goal of blob scaling for rollups.[6] Market participants view the fee drop as evidence of maturing L2 infrastructure, drawing more dApps and users.
| Metric | Ethereum Mainnet | Layer 2 Average | Change (30 Days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Avg Fee | $2.10 | $0.15 | -30% [9] |
| Daily Txns | 1.1M | 4.8M | +22% [11] |
| TVL | $120B | $45B | +15% [9] |
| Gas Used | 85M | N/A | -18% |
Market Structure Shifts
Glamsterdam milestones strengthen Ethereum’s competitive positioning against Solana and Sui, where high-throughput chains have gained DeFi share. L1 gas limit hikes could reclaim some activity, but entrenched L2 liquidity-now 40% of total Ethereum TVL-suggests permanent fragmentation.[9] Investors are rotating into L2-native tokens, with Arbitrum’s ARB up 18% in the past week.
Adoption trends favor modular scaling: blob data usage surged 50% post-Dencun, cutting L2 costs further. Hedge funds note this lowers barriers for retail, potentially doubling on-chain users by 2027. However, ePBS formalizes MEV extraction via external builders, raising centralization risks if builder diversity lags.[5]
| Upgrade | Gas Limit Target | Key Feature | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current | ~60M | Post-Dencun blobs | N/A |
| Glamsterdam | 200M floor | ePBS, EIP-8037 | Q3 2026 [8] |
| Hegotá | TBD | FOCIL, AA | Late 2026 [2] |
On-chain data from Glassnode indicates validator counts steady at 1 million, with staking yield at 3.2% amid ETF inflows. Exchange ETH balances fell 5% to 18.5 million, signaling accumulation. Yet L2 sequencer centralization persists, with top 3 handling 65% of volume.
Risks and Uncertainties
Client interoperability remains a hurdle; glamsterdam-devnet-2 stability excludes two minor clients, per EF notes.[1] A Q3 launch risks delays if quantum-resistance work in Strawmap diverts resources.[2] Fee drops mask sequencer revenue pressures, as L2 income fell 25% despite volume gains.[9]
Interpretation based on available data: Sustained L2 dominance could cap mainnet fee revenue, pressuring validator economics post-Glamsterdam. Final parameters await AllCoreDevs confirmation, leaving gas floor targets provisional.[7]
Longer-term, a 200 million gas floor positions Ethereum for 10x throughput by 2028, assuming blob optimizations hold.[10] This supports L2 ecosystems expanding to $100 billion TVL, but hinges on multi-client robustness.
[1] https://ethereum.org/roadmap/glamsterdam/[2] https://crypto.news/ethereum-details-glamsterdam-devnet-progress-and-hegota-roadmap-shift/
[3] https://defillama.com/
[4] https://intellectia.ai/news/crypto/ethereum-foundation-updates-on-glamsterdam-upgrade-progress
[5] https://www.coindesk.com/ (Note: Aggregated from search; specific Glamsterdam coverage)
[6] https://ethereum.org/roadmap/glamsterdam/
[7] https://defi-planet.com/2026/05/ethereum-foundation-hits-glamsterdam-milestones-names-new-protocol-leads/
[8] https://cryptonews.com/
[9] https://defillama.com/
[10] https://ethereum.org/roadmap/glamsterdam/
[11] https://dune.com/ (L2 txn dashboard)
https://dune.com/
https://www.theblock.co/ (market participant quotes)
https://etherscan.io/chart/gas
https://messari.io/
https://www.tradingview.com/
https://glassnode.com/
https://coinmetrics.io/
https://glassnode.com/
https://glassnode.com/
https://defillama.com/
https://www.bankless.com
