Ethereum’s Sepolia testnet officially activated the Glamsterdam upgrade at epoch 353,024 on October 6, 2026, at 13:53:36 UTC. The update instantly boosted the gas limit per block to nearly 200 million. This new capacity is more than triple Ethereum’s current mainnet limit, which remains capped at 60 million.
Transaction activity on the testnet quickly absorbed part of the extra capacity. Etherscan data tracking 25 consecutive blocks - from block 11,872,013 to 11,872,037 - shows actual gas utilization currently hovering between 24% and 43% of the newly available limit.
The higher gas limit is specifically designed to provide significantly more transaction processing capacity. This extra headroom aims to curb gas fee spikes driven by fierce block auction competition among users during peak network activity.
The Data Propagation Bottleneck Dilemma
Ethereum Foundation researchers previously held back gas limit increases due to technical constraints. They believed excessively large blocks could hinder data propagation as information is broadcast across validator nodes worldwide.
The Glamsterdam test run on Sepolia now serves as a technical proving ground for the network’s capacity limits. Successfully implementing a gas limit near 200 million paves the way for Vitalik Buterin’s roadmap, which targets a comprehensive overhaul of Ethereum’s protocol architecture over the next three to four years.
The architectural overhaul plan includes two major integrations at the execution layer. Ethereum’s future protocol will integrate block-level access lists alongside native proposer-builder role separation via enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS).
Upgrade Not Yet Bound for Mainnet
Although the gas limit on Sepolia has surged and shown initial utilization, the upgrade does not yet have a mainnet rollout schedule. Without a deployment timeline, the block capacity limit on the Ethereum mainnet will remain stuck at 60 million for the time being.
For retail users hoping for lower transaction fees, this test underscores the reality on the ground. Building Ethereum’s core infrastructure requires years of testing before the promise of easing block auction competition translates into tangible relief for users’ wallets.
Reported by Decrypt.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.
