Ethereum developers have delayed the planned October 26 Glamsterdam activation on the Hoodi testnet. They want more time to study how EIP-8037 may affect existing smart contracts. No new Hoodi date has been announced. The change concerns testnet work, not an upgrade to Ethereum mainnet, and users holding ETH do not need to act.
Why developers delayed the Hoodi test
The Foundation published the update on October 22, following a decision by core developers during the All Core Developers Execution meeting, ACDE #248. The previous Hoodi schedule has been superseded, and the October 26 activation time is no longer in effect.
The meeting agenda listed security concerns involving EIP-8037 and EIP-8038. The Foundation’s notice specifically says the delay will allow further investigation of EIP-8037’s interactions with mainnet smart contracts. The announcement does not report a mainnet exploit or say that Ethereum’s live network has been affected.
That distinction matters: postponing a testnet fork gives developers time to assess protocol changes before a scheduled test. It should not be read as confirmation of a live-network incident or as evidence that the upgrade has been cancelled permanently.
What changes for Hoodi node operators
The postponement removes the scheduled Amsterdam execution-layer activation and Gloas consensus-layer activation from Hoodi. It also removes the gas-limit schedule that would have raised the testnet’s limit to 200 million at the same epoch. The Foundation said the configuration change rolls back a future upgrade schedule; it does not rewrite or revert Hoodi’s existing chain history.
Operators running Hoodi nodes or validators should check both their execution-layer and consensus-layer clients before the old October 26 activation time. Any software or custom network configuration that still schedules Glamsterdam for the previous time needs to be aligned with the revised Hoodi configuration.
The Foundation’s official postponement notice lists client releases as they are confirmed and tells operators to follow each client team’s release notes. A version number alone should not be treated as proof that a client has removed the old activation schedule; operators should verify that the release notes explicitly confirm the change.
No mainnet launch date has been set
The Hoodi delay does not establish a new mainnet date for Glamsterdam. The October 22 developer-meeting agenda mentioned December 1, December 8 and December 9 as possible mainnet dates for discussion, but described them as preliminary candidates rather than a confirmed schedule. The agenda said developers aimed to set a date at a subsequent All Core Developers Consensus meeting if the Hoodi fork proceeded smoothly.
Until developers publish a formal schedule, applications and infrastructure teams should avoid treating any candidate date as final. For general background on Ethereum network mechanics, see BlockBriefing’s guide to Ethereum gas fees.
What users need to know
For ordinary Ethereum mainnet users, the Foundation says no action is required as a result of this Hoodi update. The immediate operational work falls on testnet node operators, validators, developers and teams that depend on Hoodi for upgrade testing.
The next milestone is a revised Hoodi activation schedule, alongside client releases that reflect the postponement. Those updates should clarify when testing can resume and give developers a better basis for evaluating the upgrade before any mainnet date is confirmed.
Official sources
- Ethereum Foundation: Glamsterdam on Hoodi Postponed — October 22, 2026.
- Ethereum All Core Developers Execution meeting #248 — October 22, 2026.
- Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8037.
- Ethereum Improvement Proposal 8038.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment, legal or technical advice.
