Ethereum is a public blockchain that runs programs called smart contracts. Ether (ETH) is its native currency. ETH pays the network's transaction fees ("gas"), and it is the asset validators stake to secure the chain. The newest development is Glamsterdam, the next major upgrade, and it is behind schedule. On 22 October 2026 core developers postponed its activation on the Hoodi test network, which had been set for 26 October, so they could investigate how one of its gas changes (EIP-8037) interacts with contracts already on mainnet. No new Hoodi date and no mainnet date have been set.
Ethereum at a glance
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Ticker | ETH |
| Native asset | Ether. It is not an ERC-20 token, because ETH came before that standard |
| Network launch | 30 July 2015 (Frontier) |
| Whitepaper | Vitalik Buterin, released 27 November 2013 |
| Consensus | Proof of stake since The Merge, 15 September 2022 |
| Can it be mined? | No. Proof-of-work mining ended with The Merge |
| Supply | No fixed cap. Issuance goes to validators, and part of every fee is burned |
| Block time | 12-second slots. A block is produced in each slot when the chosen validator is online |
| Minimum for a solo validator | 32 ETH |
What ETH is used for
According to ethereum.org, ETH has three main uses:
- Paying gas. Every transaction and contract call uses gas, the unit that measures computational work. The fee is the gas used multiplied by the price per unit of gas. Prices are usually quoted in gwei, and one gwei is one-billionth of an ETH (10⁻⁹ ETH).
- Staking. Validators lock ETH to propose and attest to blocks and are paid for it.
- Money inside applications. ETH serves as a payment and settlement asset across applications built on the network.
Because ETH does not follow the ERC-20 token standard, applications built around that standard use wrapped ether (WETH). WETH is a smart contract token backed 1:1 by deposited ETH.
How the network works
Smart contracts and tokens
ethereum.org calls smart contracts "the fundamental building blocks of Ethereum's application layer". They are code deployed on the chain that runs exactly as written. Nick Szabo coined the term in a 1994 essay. Tokens issued on Ethereum, including stablecoins, are smart contracts. Most fungible tokens follow ERC-20, a standard that Fabian Vogelsteller proposed in November 2015. It defines common functions such as transfers, balance checks and total supply.
Proof of stake
Since The Merge on 15 September 2022, validators have secured Ethereum instead of miners. A Cambridge-based research firm, CCRI, estimates that the switch cut Ethereum's annualised electricity consumption by "more than 99.988%", as cited on ethereum.org. Running your own validator requires at least 32 ETH. Pooled and liquid staking services accept smaller amounts but add trust in a third party. Validators that go offline lose small amounts of ETH. Validators that provably misbehave are "slashed": part of their stake is destroyed and they are removed from the network.
Gas fees and the burn
Each transaction pays a base fee and an optional priority fee (tip). The base fee is destroyed when the block is created. The tip goes to the validator. The base fee rises when blocks are fuller than the target, which is half the gas limit, and falls when they are emptier. So ETH's net supply tends to grow when the network is quiet and can shrink when demand is high.
Upgrades since The Merge
| Upgrade | Mainnet date | What it changed |
|---|---|---|
| Shapella | 12 April 2023 | Staked ETH could be withdrawn |
| Dencun | 13 March 2024 | Proto-danksharding (EIP-4844): "blobs" of data that lower costs for layer 2 rollups |
| Pectra | 7 May 2025 | Validators can hold up to 2,048 ETH instead of exactly 32 (EIP-7251). Regular accounts can act like smart contracts (EIP-7702). Blob target raised to 6 and maximum to 9 per block (EIP-7691) |
| Fusaka | 3 December 2025 | PeerDAS (EIP-7594): each node stores only part of the blob data. Clients ship a 60 million gas limit by default, up from 45 million. Gas per transaction capped at 16,777,216 (EIP-7825). Blob capacity can now rise between major upgrades |
What these mean in practice:
- EIP-7702 lets an ordinary wallet batch several actions into one transaction, let someone else pay the gas, or set up other recovery methods, without moving funds to a new address.
- PeerDAS means each node no longer has to store all blob data. That is the groundwork for cheaper rollup transactions as capacity grows.
Where Glamsterdam stands
Follow Ethereum's next upgrade from the Sepolia testnet to the delayed Hoodi date, and see which dates are still not set.
- 6 October 2026Sepolia testnet activationdone
Glamsterdam activated on the Sepolia testnet, according to the Ethereum Foundation's posts.
- 16 October 2026Hoodi date scheduleddone
The Foundation scheduled the Hoodi testnet activation for 26 October 2026 at 17:42:48 UTC. The same post raised Hoodi's gas limit to 200 million.
- 22 October 2026Hoodi upgrade delayed on ACDE #248delayed
Developers agreed to delay the Hoodi upgrade "to allow for further investigation of interactions of EIP-8037 with mainnet smart contracts". EIP-8037 is one of the Glamsterdam gas repricing changes.
- 26 October 2026Original Hoodi activation datecancelled
This was the Hoodi date set on 16 October. It no longer applies, and the Foundation says there is "no replacement activation epoch or timestamp".
- Not setGlamsterdam on mainnetpending
The 22 October post "does not set a Glamsterdam mainnet activation date". ethereum.org's roadmap lists Glamsterdam as "in development" with a Q4 2026 target. No mainnet gas limit has been announced.
- 2027 targetHegotá, the upgrade after Glamsterdampending
Ethereum's roadmap lists Hegotá as the next upgrade, targeted for 2027, with its scope "not final".
This shows only the dates published by ethereum.org and Ethereum Foundation posts as of 25 October 2026. It cannot predict a new Hoodi or mainnet date, and it does not explain the upgrade's 18 changes.
Glamsterdam: the next upgrade, and why it slipped
Glamsterdam is listed on ethereum.org's roadmap as "in development" with a Q4 2026 target. The Ethereum Foundation's own posts give this timeline:
- 6 October 2026: Glamsterdam activated on the Sepolia testnet.
- 16 October 2026: The Foundation scheduled the Hoodi testnet activation for 26 October 2026 at 17:42:48 UTC. The same post raised Hoodi's gas limit to 200 million.
- 22 October 2026: Developers agreed on the ACDE #248 call to delay the Hoodi upgrade "to allow for further investigation of interactions of EIP-8037 with mainnet smart contracts". The post says there is "no replacement activation epoch or timestamp". It also says the post "does not set a Glamsterdam mainnet activation date".
The EIP-7773 hardfork list schedules 18 changes for Glamsterdam. Three groups matter most to users:
- Enshrined proposer-builder separation (EIP-7732). The split between block proposers and block builders moves into the protocol, so it relies less on trusted outside middleware.
- Block-level access lists (EIP-7928). Each block records which accounts and storage slots it touches. Clients can then validate transactions in parallel.
- Gas repricing (EIP-8037, EIP-8038 and others). Creating new state gets more expensive and is metered separately, and the cost of accessing state is updated. EIP-8037 is the change behind the October delay.
The 200 million gas limit applied to the test networks. No mainnet gas limit has been announced for Glamsterdam. Ethereum's roadmap also lists Hegotá as the upgrade after Glamsterdam, targeted for 2027, with its scope "not final".
Who created Ethereum
Vitalik Buterin wrote the whitepaper, which ethereum.org lists as released on 27 November 2013. Gavin Wood wrote the Yellow Paper, the formal technical definition of the protocol, dated 1 April 2014. The ether sale opened on 22 July 2014, ran for 42 days and accepted bitcoin. Mainnet went live on 30 July 2015.
Risks to understand
- Price volatility. ETH's price can move sharply in either direction.
- Upgrade and schedule risk. Glamsterdam's delay shows that dates can slip when testing turns up problems.
- Smart contract risk. Bugs in contracts, bridges or staking services can lose funds even when the base network works as intended.
- Staking risk. Validators can be penalised for downtime or slashed for misbehaviour. Pooled and liquid staking add counterparty and contract risk.
- Fee variability. Gas costs rise when demand is high.
Official links
- Website: https://ethereum.org/
- Whitepaper: https://ethereum.org/whitepaper/
- Roadmap: https://ethereum.org/roadmap/
Limitations: upgrade details and dates come from ethereum.org and Ethereum Foundation posts as of 25 October 2026, and Glamsterdam's scope and timing may still change.
