Ethereum’s main upgrade agenda in 2026 has encountered a setback. The anticipated Glamsterdam upgrade, which was set to launch on the Hoodi testnet on October 26th, has been cancelled. Security firm Chain Security has reported that the Hoodi testnet was paused due to the identification of security flaws, which have already affected 13 projects and continue to do so. The flaw would render it unfeasible to retry cancelled transactions. It would also facilitate the ability of attackers to compromise a smart contract with minimal gas. The Glamsterdam upgrade aims to enhance Ethereum’s scalability by raising the block gas limit from 60 million to 200 million and enabling parallel transaction processing. Ideally, the upgrade would enhance Ethereum’s performance to match that of newer chains such as Solana and Sui.
The upgrade was successfully completed on the Sepolia Testnet in early October. This represents the initial low-risk opportunity for developers and validator operators to assess compatibility. The Hoodi Testnet, currently on hold, serves as the ultimate staging ground prior to the deployment of the upgrade to the Ethereum mainnet (live network). Identifying the security flaw prior to its deployment on the mainnet was a significant achievement. That said, Solana achieved 85 times faster transaction finality, further widening its gap with Ethereum. Following Solana’s Alpenglow, it now operates at a speed that is 57 times greater than that of Ethereum, while boasting a capacity that exceeds Ethereum’s by a factor of 275.
Ethereum is addressing the issue of capacity bandwidth by raising the block gas limit from 60 million to 200 million. Regarding transaction finality, Ethereum requires more than 12 minutes to finalise irreversible transactions. For Solana, the transaction time now stands at 150-200 microseconds, which equates to a speed that is 3,800 times faster than that of Ethereum. Collectively, this has enabled Solana to achieve 75 times greater usage, highlighting the disparity that Ethereum seeks to address. In fact, Solana has announced Alpenglow adaptations to facilitate its post-quantum initiative known as Quantumglow.
Despite the issues encountered with the Glamsterdam testnet, Ethereum is reportedly preparing for a fourfold increase in finality speed. That would imply reducing the duration of finality from over 12 minutes to approximately 3 minutes. It will still exhibit a slower performance relative to Solana’s 0.15 seconds. The proposal, referred to as Decoupled Consensus, aims to provide a more streamlined approach to post-quantum signatures and is anticipated to be released in early 2028. Overall, Ethereum continues to trail behind Solana and must expedite its upgrades as the disparity continues to grow.
