Ethereum's next major network upgrade, Glamsterdam, is scheduled to activate on the Hoodi testnet on October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC, according to the Ethereum Foundation. The activation follows Glamsterdam's rollout on the Sepolia testnet on October 6, making Hoodi the second public testnet to run the fork.

The upgrade arrives while ether (ETH) remains under market pressure. ETH traded near $2,384 on October 20, and technical analysts continue to monitor lower support levels after the asset struggled to sustain its recent recovery. Glamsterdam aims to improve Ethereum's block production and transaction processing capabilities, though the upcoming activation applies only to Hoodi, with no confirmed mainnet date.

Glamsterdam Confirmed for Hoodi on October 26

The Ethereum Foundation has scheduled Glamsterdam for the Hoodi testnet on October 26, 2026, at 17:42:48 UTC. Hoodi is the second testnet to run the fork after Sepolia's October 6 activation. A clean run on both testnets typically clears the way for developers to pick a mainnet date, though none has been announced yet. The staged rollout is the standard path for Ethereum hard forks, giving client teams time to surface bugs on networks that carry no real economic value before a mainnet deployment is scheduled.

Glamsterdam combines two coordinated upgrades: Amsterdam, which covers the execution layer, and Gloas, which covers the consensus layer. The goal is to make Ethereum's base layer process transactions more efficiently without giving up security or decentralization.

The gas limit is drawing significant attention in coverage of the upgrade. Hoodi will raise its gas limit to 200 million at activation. Higher limits let blocks carry more transactions, but they also increase the storage and bandwidth demands placed on node operators.

How ePBS and Block-Level Access Lists Could Improve Throughput

The headline feature is enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS), defined in EIP-7732. In theory, ePBS reduces reliance on trusted third-party relays and gives validators more time to check execution payloads. Relays entered Ethereum's stack when proposer-builder separation was introduced off-protocol at the 2022 Merge, and they have been a recurring centralization concern — a key reason enshrining the split into the protocol has been a long-running research goal.

The second major piece is block-level access lists, defined in EIP-7928. Every block will carry a list of the accounts and storage slots it touches, along with the resulting state changes. With that list, Ethereum clients can tell which transactions depend on each other and run disk reads, validation, and state-root work in parallel. Parallel processing is what would make larger blocks practical later on, and it has become a broader focus across the industry as networks look to lift throughput without compounding hardware demands.

Glamsterdam also changes gas prices for creating new state, accessing existing state, calldata, and access lists. The aim is to charge closer to what each action actually costs the network. Smart contracts that rely on fixed gas assumptions may need updates. The fork also adds ETH transfer logs, a slot-number opcode, and a larger maximum contract size.

Anyone hoping the upgrade means cheaper fees should keep expectations in check. Fees will still move with demand and transaction complexity.

ETH Moves Sideways Amid Selling Pressure

Upgrade headlines have filled the Ethereum news cycle, but they have not helped the price much. On the 1-hour chart, ETH trades at about $2,384.55 after a series of lower highs. The price has been moving sideways in a tight $2,380–$2,400 range, with little buying interest.

Momentum indicators lean soft. RSI readings sit between 31 and 43, and the fastest one is nearing oversold territory. The MACD histogram is slightly negative, so bears still hold a small edge. Open interest is rising while the price stays weak, meaning new positions are opening, though the chart alone cannot show whether traders are betting long or short.

Immediate support is at $2,370–$2,380, with the bigger swing low near $2,318. On the way up, ETH needs to clear $2,400–$2,420 first, then $2,450–$2,480.

Trader Ted summed up the mood on X. "Buyers are disappearing, and any small pump is getting sold," he wrote.

Could ETH Revisit the $2,150–$2,200 Zone?

Ted expects Ethereum to revisit the $2,150–$2,200 zone before it turns around. From current levels, that would represent a further drop of roughly 8% to 10%.

The short-term chart supports caution. A break below $2,370 would bring $2,350 into view, followed by a retest of $2,318. If that swing low gives way, Ted's target zone comes into play. For the picture to improve, ETH needs to recover above $2,420 and push cleanly through $2,450. If neither happens, sideways trading between $2,370 and $2,400 looks most likely.

Longer-term views are considerably more optimistic. Analyst Michaël van de Poppe described ETH's multi-year range as "one big accumulation," noting it has taken more than five years to reach a new all-time high. He believes "we're all undervaluing the upside of $ETH in this cycle" and says a breakout from the range could send it to "$15,000, $20,000 or even $25,000."

What Comes Next

The week's Ethereum developments give the network a strong technical storyline through the upgrade pipeline, while the price chart currently favors bears. Glamsterdam's Hoodi launch on October 26 is the next date on the calendar, and a smooth testnet run could bring a mainnet schedule closer. For node operators and stakers, the practical requirement will be updating client software before the activation — as with any hard fork, nodes running outdated software would end up on a chain that no longer follows the upgraded rules.