Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet has activated the Glamsterdam upgrade with a block gas limit of nearly 200 million, more than three times the 60 million limit currently used by Ethereum’s main network. The change gives developers a larger environment in which to test how the blockchain handles heavier transaction loads.
Sepolia tests a much larger capacity
The upgrade went live on October 6 at epoch 353,024, an Ethereum time marker that began at 13:53:36 UTC. A block’s gas limit represents the maximum amount of computational work that can be included in it. It does not directly specify how many transactions a block can process, since different transactions require different amounts of computation.
Data from 25 consecutive Sepolia blocks, numbered 11,872,013 through 11,872,037 and reviewed on Etherscan on October 8, showed gas usage ranging from 47.1 million to 85.9 million. That represented approximately 24% to 43% of the new limit, indicating that the test blocks were not yet using the full available capacity.
A higher ceiling creates more room during periods of strong demand. On Ethereum, users compete for limited block space when the network is busy, and that competition can push fees higher. Raising the limit can provide additional headroom, although it does not automatically mean that transaction throughput will triple.
Why the change is being tested first
Larger blocks also increase the amount of information validators must receive, check and propagate across the network. Validators are the computers that help confirm blocks and stake ETH as collateral. Ethereum Foundation researchers have previously warned that limits above 40 million could fail to propagate as expected, which helps explain why increases have been introduced gradually.
The network’s limit moved from 30 million to 32 million after a validator vote in February 2025, in which the result was 52% to 48%. It later rose to 60 million during 2025. The Fusaka upgrade, activated on December 3, 2025, made 60 million the default limit.
Glamsterdam is also linked to longer-term efforts to improve Ethereum’s ability to process activity. Proposed changes include block-level access lists, which identify the accounts and data touched by each block and could allow computers to verify transactions more efficiently. Another is enshrined proposer-builder separation, which would bring the process for selecting who assembles a block into Ethereum’s own protocol rather than relying on external middleware.
No mainnet increase yet
According to Decrypt, developers have described a possible move toward a gas limit of roughly 200 million after Glamsterdam. However, the current announcement does not set a date for the Hoodi testnet and does not schedule a mainnet upgrade. Ethereum’s mainnet therefore remains at a 60 million gas limit for now.
Sepolia is a public test network whose tokens have no real-world value, allowing developers to test changes without putting users’ funds at risk. It previously hosted a rehearsal for Ethereum’s move to proof of stake on July 6, 2022.
Market picture
Moneyiar data at 21:44 on October 8, 2026, showed Ethereum (ETH) at $2,474.6574255354, down 3.55% over 24 hours and 7.98% over seven days. Shiba Inu was $0.0000053006, down 1.65% over 24 hours and 7.67% over seven days. Uniswap stood at $7.3438553773, down 5.08% over 24 hours and 18.51% over seven days.
