Ethereum devs delay Glamsterdam Hoodi testnet fork over EIP-8037, EIP-8038 risks
In brief
- Hoodi testnet fork of Glamsterdam won't proceed until smart contract issues are resolved, Ethereum Foundation says.
- Eight smart contract invariants tied to EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 are at the center of concerns.
- ChainSecurity's Oct. 13 report flagged contracts relying on fixed gas assumptions when external calls fail.
- Glamsterdam already went live on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6.
Why gas assumptions matter
The problem is narrow, and it's technical. Some existing Ethereum projects rely on assumptions that certain operations cost a specific amount of gas, the Ethereum Foundation said in the post. EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 would invalidate those assumptions (both change how gas is charged for certain operations), according to the Foundation.
The decision followed an Oct. 13 report from smart contract auditor ChainSecurity. ChainSecurity found that the two EIPs could break smart contracts that rely on fixed gas-related assumptions when external calls fail. That's the scenario developers are now working through, and Cointelegraph's account of the Foundation post puts the number of smart contract invariants in question at eight.
The Foundation's condition is plain: the Hoodi fork won't proceed until the issues are resolved.
What the delay buys developers
Holding the Hoodi fork gives developers more time to identify potential smart contract issues and decide whether changes are needed before Glamsterdam moves toward mainnet deployment, according to Cointelegraph. Hoodi wouldn't have been the upgrade's first testnet, either. Glamsterdam went live on the Sepolia testnet on Oct. 6, in what the outlet described as one of its final major rehearsals.
What Glamsterdam is meant to do
Glamsterdam aims to advance Ethereum's layer-1 scaling roadmap, the Ethereum Foundation said in a Sept. 28 blog post. The upgrade's main pieces are enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists and gas pricing changes that better reflect execution cost.
Those gas changes are the part under review. Contracts written around specific gas costs don't adjust on their own when the charging rules move, which is the risk ChainSecurity's report described and the reason the Foundation gave for pausing.
For now, Hoodi waits.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Ethereum developers delay the Glamsterdam fork on Hoodi?
Ethereum core developers delayed the Hoodi testnet fork until security concerns tied to eight smart contract invariants are resolved. The Ethereum Foundation said some existing projects rely on assumptions that certain operations cost a specific amount of gas, which EIP-8037 and EIP-8038 would invalidate.
What did ChainSecurity find about EIP-8037 and EIP-8038?
In an Oct. 13 report, smart contract auditor ChainSecurity found that the two EIPs could break smart contracts that rely on fixed gas-related assumptions when external calls fail. The Hoodi delay decision followed that report.
What is the Glamsterdam upgrade meant to do?
According to a Sept. 28 Ethereum Foundation blog post, Glamsterdam aims to advance Ethereum's layer-1 scaling roadmap through enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists and gas pricing changes that better reflect execution cost.
