Ethereum Platåberget Testnet Goes Live for Glamsterdam Upgrade
In brief
- Platåberget testnet now live for Glamsterdam upgrade testing
- Glamsterdam mainnet fork scheduled for August 20
- Key features: ePBS, gas repricings, Block-Level Access Lists
- Developers and validators can test changes for several months
Testing Ground for Major Changes
Platåberget is designed to run for a few months, unlike the short-lived devnets that precede it. The testnet has a publicly joinable validator set, which means anyone can deposit a new validator and participate in securing the network. This open approach lets the community experiment with Glamsterdam's changes in a realistic setting before they reach mainnet.
Key areas being tested include Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), gas repricings, Block-Level Access Lists (BALs), and the new builder API flow. Each represents a significant shift in how Ethereum operates.
What Glamsterdam Brings
A key highlight of the upgrade is Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), which remains a major change to how blocks are built, proposed, and validated. This architectural shift aims to reduce centralization risk in block production.
Glamsterdam will add Block-Level Access Lists, which introduce enforced block-level access lists that record accessed state locations. This change improves how the network tracks data access patterns.
Gas repricings represent a coordinated bundle of gas cost changes aimed at about a 200 million gas floor. The upgrade also increases the maximum deployed contract size from 24KiB to 64KiB and the maximum initcode size from 48KiB to 128KiB, allowing for more complex smart contracts on the network.
What's Next
Platåberget's launch signals Glamsterdam is moving closer to mainnet. The testnet gives validators and developers time to identify issues, optimize performance, and refine the upgrade before it reaches the live network. Testing on a public testnet with real validator participation typically takes weeks to months — this phase is critical for catching edge cases that devnets may miss.
