Ethereum core developers are preparing Glamsterdam Devnet 8 as a named, public-facing test network called Platåberget, moving the upgrade beyond primarily internal interoperability testing. The plan was discussed during All Core Developers Execution call #242 on July 30, when participants supported making the next network more accessible to the wider Ethereum ecosystem. Platåberget is planned, but it has not yet launched.
The technical status has advanced since that call. At All Core Developers Testing call #90 on August 3, execution-client teams backed revised gas-pricing parameters, allowing the repricing package to be treated as frozen. The remaining launch dependency is implementation readiness rather than an unresolved pricing decision, because EthPandaOps still needs a follow-up execution-spec release carrying the final constants before test fixtures and clients can align.
Public Testing Will Focus on the Fork Transition
EthPandaOps describes Platåberget as a short-lived fork-transition network that will begin from a large pre-fork state and activate Glamsterdam at a later point. Its main objective is to verify that execution and consensus clients move through the upgrade without requiring restarts. The design tests the protocol transition itself, rather than only operating a network that begins with the new rules already enabled.
The testnet will use discv5 exclusively for execution-layer node discovery, while QUIC will remain enabled on the consensus layer. It will also test interoperability across Glamsterdam features including enshrined proposer-builder separation, block-level access lists and the SLOTNUM opcode introduced by EIP-7843. The shared environment is intended to expose failures across networking, block construction and state processing.
Performance is another major focus. Devnet 7 showed processing slowdowns of roughly 10% to 20% across clients during SSZ and stable-container testing, alongside difficulties involving large Merkle trees and a substantial validator set. Platåberget will test whether subsequent optimization work has addressed those regressions before Glamsterdam moves closer to mainnet deployment.
Glamsterdam Targets Q4 as Hegotá Scoping Continues
Ethereum.org currently lists Glamsterdam for the fourth quarter of 2026, but the public-testnet schedule remains fluid. The EthPandaOps specification targets an early-August launch without providing a final date, while several API and testing components remain open or classified as best effort. The Q4 window is a roadmap objective rather than a guaranteed activation date.
The current plan also preserves room for more disruptive experiments. EthPandaOps says Devnet 9 should follow within the month with a focus on non-finality scenarios, separating a broadly usable testing environment from networks intentionally configured to fail or become unstable. Public accessibility will not replace smaller devnets built for failure testing.
Work on Hegotá is progressing in parallel, although its scope and timing remain less mature. The draft Hegotá meta EIP lists EIP-8115, which would batch priority-fee payments at the end of a block, and EIP-7668, which would remove bloom filters, among proposals being evaluated. No mainnet activation date has been assigned to Hegotá, and proposals marked for possible inclusion are not guaranteed to ship.
Platåberget therefore represents an important transition in Glamsterdam’s development, but not the end of the testing process. Its value will come from exposing a stabilized upgrade package to a wider group of operators, while leaving room for specification fixes, client optimization and dedicated failure-mode testing.