Ethereum Developers Face Timeline Pressure
Ethereum developers are looking at possibly scaling back their next major upgrade, called Glamsterdam. The reason is simple: some key features might not be ready by the mid-2026 deadline they’ve set. This comes from Christine D. Kim, who runs Protocol Watch and keeps a close eye on these things.
During a recent developer call, the team realized that some planned improvements just won’t fit the timeline. It’s a familiar situation, really. The previous Pectra upgrade faced similar challenges, and some people following along might be having déjà vu moments.
Key Features at Risk
Two main components are causing concern. First, there’s EIP 7732, which deals with something called enshrined proposer-builder separation. This is important because it addresses manipulation risks in how transactions get processed. If they can’t get it ready in time, they might have to cut it from Glamsterdam entirely or reduce what it does.
The second piece is EIP-7928, which would help with block-level access lists. This would let the network process more transactions at once, improving overall capacity. But here’s the thing: technical problems are slowing down work across different client teams. One developer mentioned that changes to how different parts of the system communicate are causing headaches.
Testing Reveals More Problems
Stress testing in December didn’t help matters. The Ethereum Foundation’s testing team found issues, particularly with the Teku client. The team working on Teku is still trying to fix these problems, and they’ve asked for a pause on further mainnet testing while they work on solutions.
What’s interesting is that no team has managed to get a fully working version of partial cell proofs ready yet. This is a networking change needed to support more data storage on the network. Without it, some planned improvements to capacity won’t work properly.
The Bigger Picture
Glamsterdam is supposed to be Ethereum’s first test of a new approach: doing major upgrades twice a year instead of the old schedule. The foundation introduced this faster pace in 2025, hoping to deliver improvements more regularly.
But here’s where it gets tricky. If Glamsterdam gets delayed or scaled back, it could push back the next upgrade too, which is called Hegota. That one is supposed to come after Glamsterdam finishes successfully.
Developers haven’t officially said they’re changing the scope yet. They’ve agreed to look at the situation again by the end of February. Some teams, like Nimbus and Lodestar, have made progress on preliminary work. Others are still catching up.
I think what we’re seeing is the reality of complex software development hitting ambitious timelines. Ethereum’s upgrades involve multiple independent teams all working on different parts of the system, and getting everything to line up perfectly is… well, challenging.
The foundation’s protocol coordination lead has been encouraging proposal authors to present their ideas at upcoming meetings. Maybe they’re looking for alternative approaches or smaller improvements that could still deliver value without the same technical hurdles.
It’s worth remembering that scaling back an upgrade isn’t necessarily bad. Sometimes it’s better to ship something solid and limited rather than something ambitious but buggy. The network’s stability matters more than hitting arbitrary deadlines.
Still, it’s a situation worth watching. How Ethereum handles these timeline pressures could set a pattern for future upgrades under their new twice-yearly schedule.
