以太坊正在测试如何安全地以更低的成本创造区块空间

Ethereum has launched a Glamestead upgrade on the Sepolia Test Network to raise the Gas cap to 200 million

Ethereum is previewing the 200 million Gas cap on the Sepolia Test Network, which is about three times the capacity of previous network blocks. This public test aims to evaluate network performance under high loads and provide a basis for developers to ultimately decide on main network parameters.

Automatic updates and client adaptations

The Glamsterdam upgrade significantly increased Sepolia's Gas limit from approximately 60 million to 200 million. To ensure a smooth transition for validators, the Prysm client quickly released version 7.2.1 before activation. This version adopts new Gas limit settings by default, and validators can automatically adapt to the new rules without manually changing the configuration.

According to the update notes released by Prysm on October 5, the verifier client version 7.2.1 has a new Gas limit schedule built into Sepolia. Once the Glamsburg upgrade is activated (expected time is 13:53:36 UTC on October 6), validators will automatically use the 200 million Gas limit to propose blocks. Although the previously released version 7.2.0 supports the Sepolia fork, it does not include a configuration of 200 million Gas. If a verifier using this version does not manually adjust the proposer settings after the upgrade, it will still default to 60 million Gas.

7.2.1 The version eliminates the manual setting step by integrating the schedule directly into the client. However, operators can still select other limit values through proposer settings, the Keymanager API, or Prysm's suggested Gas limit options. This timing is critical for the measurements developers make on Sepolia: If verifiers mix 60 million and 200 million Gas proposed blocks, the network will not be able to obtain consistent exposure data on the large blocks designed by Glamsterdam.

The relationship between increasing block capacity and fee mechanism

The increase in Sepolia from approximately 60 million Gas to 200 million Gas provides a public environment for Ethereum developers to observe the processing power of the validator as the amount of computing that can be accommodated within each block increases significantly. The block Gas cap determines the maximum amount of Gas consumed by transactions within a block. Raising the cap does not directly set the fees paid by individual users, but it provides more room for transactions when demand for block space rises.

The Ethereum main network raised the Gas limit to 60 million in November 2025, when more than 513,000 validators expressed support for the change. This adjustment provides more capacity for block processing transactions, while Ethereum continues to prepare for protocol changes aimed at supporting higher throughput. Glamstam takes this work to a higher level. The Ethereum Foundation describes the upgrade as part of its Layer 1 expansion roadmap, in which the "Enshrined Proposer Builder Separation" and "Block Level Access Lists" will change the way blocks are produced and verified.

A higher Gas cap can make room for more token exchanges, stablecoin transfers, smart contract interactions and other transactions in the same block. When demand is high, having more available block space can reduce the level of competition among users for transaction packaging. But this does not mean that the 200 million Gas cap will automatically lead to a reduction in Ethereum transaction fees. Fees still depend on network needs and the type of activity performed, and Glamsterdam will individually change the pricing mechanism for certain operations.

Economic model changes brought by Glamsterdam

The increase in block capacity has also brought new challenges to Ethereum, as not all operations place the same burden on the network. Some operations create a computational burden only at the end of a transaction, while others create data that may need to be stored by nodes for long periods of time as part of the network state.

Glamstam addressed this difference with changes including EIP-8037, a proposal that changed the cost of creating a state. The Ethereum Foundation points out that historically the relative cost of state creation has been low, but the permanent storage burden it places on nodes has been very heavy. The new proposal more closely links charges to the amount of permanent data created or accessed by operations. As previously reported, Ethereum Foundation developer Parithosh Jayanthi said in an early Glamstam test that high-level computing operations will become cheaper and state storage will become more expensive.

Developers have warned that repricing could affect certain applications. Smart contracts that rely on fixed Gas assumptions, 2,300 Gas subsidies, or specific Gas restrictions may need to be modified before Glamsterdam-based reaches the mainnetwork, although most contracts that pass the transaction replay test are unaffected. Relevant compatibility warnings cover EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, which changes account and storage access costs. This combination allows Ethereum to experiment with more execution capabilities while imposing stricter economic restrictions on operations that could lead to excessively rapid growth in permanent states.

Going from private rehearsal to public testing

The 200 million Gas test is not the first attempt. Previously, Glamsburg Devnet 11 had increased the Gas cap from 60 million to 200 million during controlled rehearsals in September. The network uses 84,000 validators across multiple clients and carries core EIPs planned for public testing. Capacity testing of Devnet 11 was conducted after problems with the early Glamestead development network. For example, Devnet 8 encountered non-final issues during the Gloas activation. Other tests also exposed issues that affected the execution client, which was subsequently followed by further iterations by developers.

Sepolia places the upgrade in a public test network environment, with operators running different clients and configurations. Ethereum developers can use this test to observe whether the network remains stable under conditions closer to the real environment at high capacity. A last-minute update to Prysm is part of this preparation. Version 7.2.1 included Sepolia's Gas schedule in the 353,024th Era and set 200 million as the default for validators after the Gloas fork.

The main network has not yet been activated

Sepolia's testing does not mean that the Gas limit for the Ethereum main network will be increased to 200 million on October 6. Ethereum's official Glamsterdam timetable only lists the October 6 upgrade of Sepolia. The activation dates for the Hoodi test network and the main network have not yet been determined, and the Ethereum Foundation said it will issue separate announcements after the client team reaches an agreement on deployment.

Sepolia operators require compatible execution clients and consensus clients to follow the upgraded network. Pryms is one of the participating consensus clients, along with Lighthouse, Nimbus, Teku, Lodestar and Grandine.

Ethereum developers have long determined that the 200 million level will be an important part of Glamestead testing. The network roadmap states that without corresponding Gas pricing changes, status growth may become unsustainable as Ethereum expands to the capacity enabled by the upgrade. In addition to Glamstam, the proposal for Hegotá is also reviewing the same constraints, aiming to account for the impact of transaction data and state creation as block restrictions increase, which developers are reviewing further Gas changes as part of Ethereum's 2027 upgrade plan.

For Sepolia, testing that started immediately began in the 353,024th era. When Glamstam is activated, validators running Prysm 7.2.1 will default to the 200 million Gas setting, and Hoodi and the Ethereum main network currently have no confirmed Glamstam activation dates.