Ethereum developers postponed Monday's Glamsterdam test on the Hoodi network after security researchers found a gas-accounting change could let smart contracts record failed operations permanently. Anyone holding assets in contracts built on Ethereum's current gas logic has a stake in how this gets fixed before mainnet activation.
What actually happened
The Glamsterdam upgrade was due on Hoodi, Ethereum's public test network, on 26 October 2026 at 17:42:48 UTC. Developers postponed it during Thursday's All Core Devs Execution call, according to CoinDesk. Security firm ChainSecurity had published an analysis on 13 October 2026 showing that EIP-8037, combined with EIP-8038, could change how contracts behave when a called contract runs out of gas. ChainSecurity calculated that creating a new storage slot could require 110,020 gas under the new rules, versus 22,100 under the current ones. No replacement date has been set for the Hoodi test or its planned 200 million gas limit, and Ethereum's mainnet upgrade date remains unconfirmed. ETH traded at $2,400 on 23 October 2026, up +0.22% over 24 hours, with a 24-hour high of $2,414 and a low of $2,373, per CoinGecko.
How we got here
Glamsterdam is Ethereum's next major upgrade, bringing a new block-builder selection system and changes meant to let the network handle larger blocks. It completed testing on the Sepolia network on 6 October 2026. Hoodi was meant to be the next rehearsal, alongside a planned increase to 200 million gas per block. The delay follows a separate proposal published 21 October 2026 by researcher Ben Edgington and colleagues, aiming to cut Ethereum's transaction finality from about 16 minutes to roughly four minutes, according to CoinDesk. Both efforts sit in Ethereum's ongoing push to scale throughput without breaking existing contracts.
Why this matters for you
For builders, the delay matters more than the market reaction. Contracts that rely on gas running out to reverse failed operations could behave differently under Glamsterdam's rules, so developers get more time to test before mainnet. For users moving funds across chains, a faster finality proposal could eventually cut the capital that transfer services tie up, the kind of cost Circle already prices into its fast USDC route. For ETH holders, nothing in today's news changes token economics directly. Price stayed within a narrow $2,373 to $2,414 range, suggesting the market read the delay as caution, not crisis.
The bigger question
Ethereum's testing pipeline caught this risk before it reached mainnet, which is the system working as intended. But as the network layers more gas-accounting and finality changes into each upgrade cycle, how many more subtle interactions with existing contracts remain undiscovered until a security firm goes looking? Does testing capacity keep pace with the pace of protocol change, on Ethereum and elsewhere?
What to watch
No new Hoodi test date has been announced for Glamsterdam, and Ethereum's mainnet activation remains unscheduled. The four-minute finality draft still needs an EIP number and unresolved voting-timing details before it enters Ethereum's formal pipeline. Separately, Uniswap Labs has launched aggregator hooks on Ethereum, Base and Robinhood Chain, routing trades through external liquidity. Bonuz readers tracking Ethereum's roadmap should watch for the next All Core Devs call.
This article is information, not financial advice. Prices are a snapshot and change constantly. Nothing here is a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Do your own research.
