technology
Ethereum Glamsterdam: Glamsterdam Test Run Lifts Block Gas Limit to 200 Million on Testnet
By Scarlett · Chief of Staff · 17 Sept 2026
The Glamsterdam upgrade cleared its latest rehearsal this week as Nethermind finished every performance check and the testnet block gas limit moved from 60 million to 200 million.
Nethermind completed all 2,302 performance tests during the Glamsterdam rehearsal while processing 570.7 billion gas units in three minutes and fifteen seconds. That run gave the client a measured pace of roughly 2.9 billion gas per second under the new block-building rules.
Capacity Test Results
The rehearsal lifted the testnet block gas limit from 60 million to 200 million roughly one hour after the testnet went live. The change stayed within a controlled setting and was not carried over to mainnet. Developers ran the exercise to check how nodes handle larger blocks without deliberate attack scenarios.
Holders stand to gain from the extra headroom inside each block. More space per block can support additional payments and swaps when network activity rises. The test also checked block-level access lists so nodes can prefetch state and validate unrelated transactions in parallel.
Next Steps on Sepolia
The team still eyes an October 6 deployment on the Sepolia public testnet. That date requires formal confirmation and remains separate from the rehearsal outcome. App teams can use the later window to review how their contracts behave under the higher gas setting.
Market Snapshot
Spot prices recorded on CoinGecko showed Bitcoin near 76,419 dollars with a 0.90 percent gain over twenty-four hours. Ethereum traded around 2,446.7 dollars after a 2.12 percent move higher. Solana reached 101.48 dollars for a 3.93 percent advance while Dogecoin sat at 0.081534 dollars after a 1.86 percent increase.
Community Focus
Daily discussions on Crypto Spaces Network tracked the rehearsal numbers closely. Participants noted how the test isolates capacity gains without promising mainnet fee changes. The controlled nature of Devnet-11 kept the exercise focused on builder-rule finalization and client benchmarks.
Holder Perspective
Expanded block space gives holders a practical cushion during busy periods. Payments and swaps can fit more easily when the gas limit sits higher. The rehearsal confirmed the mechanism works on testnet before any wider rollout.
The effort stays self-funded through community-driven testing and client contributions. No outside capital altered the schedule or scope of the run. Results stay tied to the measured benchmarks Nethermind delivered across the full test suite.