Ethereum Is Undergoing a Complete Overhaul with Its Upcoming Major Update

Ethereum developer Toni Wahrstätter has revealed that the Ethereum network is preparing for a radical change in its transaction execution architecture with the upcoming “Glamsterdam” hard fork.

According to Wahrstätter, the central proposal in the update, EIP-7928, will add parallel transaction execution capabilities to the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), providing a major leap in network scalability.

Under EIP-7928, a new structure called “Block Access List” (BAL) will be added to Ethereum blocks. This structure will record the accounts and storage areas accessed by a block, as well as the state changes that occur after each transaction. Thus, the effects of a transaction on the network can be seen directly, without the need to track each transaction individually as before.

Wahrstätter stated that this system would provide significant advantages to client software. Ethereum clients such as Geth, Nethermind, Besu, Erigon, and Reth would be able to verify transactions in parallel without waiting for each other thanks to BAL. This would allow for more efficient use of the multi-core architecture of modern processors.

The new architecture will also enable a method called “batch prefetch,” allowing the necessary data to be pre-loaded from disk in bulk during block execution. This will prevent nodes from waiting for data during execution and speed up the transaction verification process.

Another significant contribution of EIP-7928 is the ability to parallelize “post-state root” calculations. Network nodes will be able to process the updated state tree concurrently while block execution continues. This will reduce one of the bottlenecks in the block validation process.

The update will also improve the Ethereum synchronization system. Wahrstätter stated that the new approach, called “snap sync v2,” will allow nodes to catch up to the chain faster and completely bypass the “healing” phase required in the current system. This is expected to increase network resilience, especially during periods of high transaction volume.

Ethereum developers state that tests have shown block verification speeds have increased by up to five times on 6-core machines. This performance increase makes raising the block gas limit to 300 million realistic, while the Glamsterdam hardfork is initially planned to be implemented with a limit of approximately 200 million gases.

Wahrstätter also stated that EIP-7928 will work in conjunction with EIP-7732 (ePBS), which improves the Proposer-Builder Separation structure, saving validators 2 to 4 times more time for transaction execution.

Wahrstätter argued that the Ethereum community has long been working intensively on scalability, and that the Glamsterdam update will be a significant milestone demonstrating what decentralized developer communities can achieve together towards a common goal.

*This is not investment advice.