Ethereum vs Solana: How the Glamsterdam Upgrade Is Reshaping the L1 Competitive Landscape

During the same week that Drift—the largest DeFi protocol in the Solana ecosystem—suffered an attack resulting in approximately $285 million in losses, the attacker bridged all stolen assets to Ethereum and converted them into ETH, accumulating roughly 129,066 ETH. This incident not only highlights Solana’s structural liquidity constraints but also serves as the clearest validation of Ethereum’s role as the ultimate settlement layer for crypto assets. Whether it’s attackers or institutions, when it comes to safeguarding large sums, Ethereum remains the top choice.

Beyond the noise of the Drift hack, Ethereum’s protocol layer is gearing up for its most ambitious scaling transformation since the Merge. The Glamsterdam upgrade—a hard fork named after Devconnect’s host city Amsterdam and the star Gloas—is scheduled for mainnet deployment in the first half of 2026. The development team has already advanced to the Devnet-5 testing phase, with several core EIPs having passed initial validation on various testnets.

One Upgrade, Three Core Objectives

Glamsterdam’s design centers around three interconnected objectives: accelerated processing, expanded capacity, and database bloat prevention.

From an execution standpoint, Ethereum has used a single-threaded, sequential processing model since its inception in 2015—each transaction is handled one after another in an ordered queue. While this approach is simple and secure, it severely underutilizes the parallel computing power of modern multi-core hardware. Today, a validator running a 16-core machine only uses one core for transaction execution. Glamsterdam fundamentally changes this dynamic by introducing block access lists: each block pre-declares which transactions touch which accounts and storage slots. If two transactions are proven to access independent states, they can be executed simultaneously across multiple CPU cores. In effect, Ethereum will shift from a "single-lane road" to a "multi-lane highway."

On the capacity front, Glamsterdam will overhaul the current relay-dependent model into a protocol-native proposer-builder separation (ePBS). In today’s system, Ethereum validators outsource block construction to specialized builders via an off-chain system called MEV-Boost, which relies on a handful of trusted relay operators. These relays have become centralization bottlenecks—just a few operators effectively control which blocks are proposed, creating risks of censorship and single points of failure. ePBS will embed the proposer-builder handoff directly into the consensus layer, eliminating the need for the relay layer.

To prevent database bloat, Glamsterdam introduces a multidimensional gas mechanism that separates the cost of state creation from execution and call data costs, enabling differentiated resource pricing. This ensures that even as the gas limit increases, validators’ hardware requirements remain manageable.

From Fusaka to Glamsterdam: A Clear Roadmap

Ethereum’s technical roadmap follows a snowball-style iterative logic. In 2025, the Pectra and Fusaka upgrades will roll out in succession, laying the groundwork for Glamsterdam. The Fusaka upgrade introduces an independent fork mechanism for blob parameters, allowing Ethereum to increase blob counts without waiting for a full hard fork. The current target is 14 blobs per block, with a maximum of 21—boosting L2 data availability by 2.3x compared to pre-Fusaka levels.

Here’s a timeline of key milestones as of April 3, 2026:

Glamsterdam’s preparations began in earnest in January 2026. The development team is now at Devnet-5 testing. After the Ethereum Foundation’s DevOps team tested three core EIPs on Devnet-4, they are transitioning to Devnet-5. Analysts widely expect that, if testnet validation goes smoothly, Glamsterdam will go live on mainnet around June 2026. However, developers continue to stress that the timeline ultimately depends on testnet results.

Data & Architecture: The Path to 10,000 TPS

Glamsterdam’s performance boost isn’t just a promise—it’s the result of several concrete technical enhancements working in tandem.

Parallel execution drives throughput gains. With block access lists enabling parallel transaction execution, transactions that previously waited in sequence can now be processed concurrently across multiple CPU cores. Combined with a higher gas limit—increasing from today’s 60 million to 100 million and eventually 200 million—Ethereum’s raw throughput could jump by 3.3x or more. Crucially, smart contract developers won’t need to change any code to benefit from these improvements.

ePBS’s structural impact on scaling. ePBS gives the network a wider time window to propagate larger data loads. Currently, block validation is constrained by a mere 2-second "hot path," forcing validators to hurriedly broadcast and execute transactions, which severely limits network capacity. ePBS removes this bottleneck. According to Ethereum Foundation researchers, after ePBS goes live, about 10% of validators will switch from re-executing transactions to verifying zero-knowledge proofs, paving the way for further gas limit increases.

Specific gas fee reductions. Per EIP-7904, Glamsterdam will recalibrate EVM operation gas costs based on modern hardware benchmarks. Whether for simple transfers or complex contract interactions, gas fees are expected to drop by 78.6%. The multidimensional gas mechanism will also separate state creation costs from execution and call data costs, allowing for more granular resource pricing.

Performance metrics comparison:

Note: The current average gas fee of ~$0.17 reflects the post-Pectra and Fusaka environment.

Importantly, these TPS and gas fee figures represent theoretical protocol-level optimizations. Actual mainnet performance will depend on factors like network congestion, transaction complexity, and validator upgrade progress.

Market Perspectives: Optimism and Caution

Market discussions around Glamsterdam reveal a clear split in sentiment.

Optimists believe that 10,000 TPS and a 78% fee reduction will fundamentally reshape Ethereum L1’s economic model. With transaction costs dropping to around $0.04, high-frequency, low-value DeFi operations become much more viable. Use cases like NFT minting and on-chain gaming—which had been priced out of L1—could return. Some analysts set ETH’s 2026 target price between $4,500 and $7,500, based on the network effects and capital inflows expected if Glamsterdam launches on time and succeeds. Institutional flows support this view: whales holding 10,000–100,000 ETH collectively added over 320,000 ETH in a single week, and BlackRock’s staked ETH ETF (ETHB) reached $254 million in AUM in its first week.

Cautious and skeptical voices are also prominent. Critics of EIP-7732 (ePBS) argue that embedding PBS directly into the protocol may be premature, as the trust and incentive mechanisms are still complex and unresolved. Raising the gas limit from 60 million to 200 million will significantly increase block sizes, posing challenges for independent validators running on standard hardware. While the multidimensional gas mechanism aims to control state bloat, its real-world impact remains to be seen. Others question whether L1 TPS increases are still urgent, given that Layer 2 solutions already handle much of Ethereum’s scaling.

Liquidity insights from the Drift hack. The attacker bridged roughly $285 million in stolen assets to Ethereum and converted them to ETH, now distributed across four wallets. The deeper takeaway: even after a major security breach within Solana, the attacker chose ETH—not Solana—as the ultimate safe haven. This highlights structural differences in liquidity depth, asset acceptance, and exit convenience between the two networks. Drift’s total value locked (TVL) plunged from about $550 million to $247 million after the attack, and its native token DRIFT fell nearly 28%. Ethereum’s ecosystem, however, remained largely unaffected. The incident also sparked debate over centralized stablecoin issuers’ freeze powers—the attacker deliberately avoided USDT and used USDC throughout, anticipating that Circle would not freeze the funds. Indeed, Circle took no action during the attack.

Technical Foundations and Real-World Constraints

When assessing Glamsterdam’s industry impact, it’s essential to separate fact from speculation and critically examine prevailing narratives.

The Glamsterdam hard fork is planned for mainnet deployment in H1 2026; core EIP-7732 (ePBS) and EIP-7928 (block access lists) are on the development roadmap; the Ethereum Foundation is at Devnet-5 testing, with several core EIPs validated on Devnet-4; and there’s consensus among core developers to raise the gas limit from 60 million to 100 million and eventually 200 million.

The 10,000 TPS target is a community estimate based on cumulative parameter improvements, not a hard guarantee. Actual mainnet TPS will depend on network congestion, transaction types, and validator hardware. The 78% gas fee reduction is also a theoretical optimization—real-world results will be shaped by block space supply and demand. ePBS’s impact on MEV extraction will require on-chain data to confirm after launch.

Analyst price targets of $4,500–$7,500 for ETH rest on multiple assumptions: Glamsterdam launches on time, mainnet remains stable, institutional capital keeps flowing, and macro conditions are favorable. Any change in these variables could significantly alter price trajectories.

Additionally, the upgrade process carries several verifiable risks: Raising the gas limit to 200 million will increase block propagation delays and require higher validator bandwidth. As a deep consensus-layer overhaul, ePBS could expose unforeseen incentive vulnerabilities that threaten network security. If the multidimensional gas mechanism is poorly designed, it could introduce new economic distortions.

Industry Impact: A New L1 Competitive Landscape

Glamsterdam’s structural impact on the crypto industry will be felt on three main fronts:

1. L1 competitive reshuffling. Solana has carved out a unique market position with high TPS and low fees. With Glamsterdam, Ethereum L1 will, for the first time, match Solana in TPS—targeting 10,000 TPS. If fee reductions materialize, the gap in transaction costs will narrow dramatically. "High speed, low fees" will no longer be Solana’s exclusive domain. Application developers will face more nuanced choices, weighing security, decentralization, ecosystem maturity, and developer tooling. Solana’s dominance in TVL will face its first real challenge from an expanded Ethereum L1.

2. MEV economics paradigm shift. ePBS transitions block building from an off-chain, relay-dependent model to a protocol-native, transparent mechanism. In the current MEV-Boost system, relay operators serve as trust intermediaries, and their centralization has been a persistent concern. With ePBS, builders become first-class protocol participants—developers estimate this could reduce transaction ordering-related MEV extraction by up to 70%. This will reshape how searchers, builders, and validators share MEV profits.

3. Redefining L2–L1 dynamics. Glamsterdam will also boost L2 data availability—blobs per block are expected to rise from a target of 14 to over 72. This means rollups built on Ethereum can process higher transaction volumes while anchoring security to L1. However, a faster, cheaper L1 raises a key question: if L1 becomes sufficiently affordable and fast, will some applications that migrated to L2 return to mainnet? This could challenge L2 economic models and value capture.

Scenario Analysis: Multiple Paths Forward

Based on current information, there are three main scenarios for how the industry could evolve post-Glamsterdam:

Scenario 1: On-time launch, performance targets met. If Glamsterdam goes live around June as planned, with parallel execution and ePBS successfully activated and gas fees dropping sharply, Ethereum L1 will once again become a viable platform for high-activity applications. High-frequency DeFi, on-chain gaming, and social apps—previously priced out by high costs—could return. ETH’s network fee revenue and burn rate would rise, further reinforcing its role as the ecosystem’s core asset. Solana would face a fundamental challenge to its L1 narrative dominance.

Scenario 2: Delayed launch or partial EIP rollout. If testnets uncover unexpected technical issues, pushing mainnet launch to later in the year or leading to the removal of key EIPs, market expectations could temporarily pull back. In this case, Solana would have a longer window to solidify its high-TPS narrative. However, since the Ethereum Foundation has made Glamsterdam a top priority for 2026, the odds of a major delay are relatively low.

Scenario 3: Major post-launch vulnerabilities. This is the tail-risk scenario. If ePBS exposes incentive or security flaws after launch, it could lead to network splits or validator coordination failures. If multidimensional gas pricing is poorly designed, it could trigger new resource misallocations or economic attacks. In this extreme case, Ethereum’s scaling roadmap would need a reset, and short-term market confidence would take a major hit. That said, all of Glamsterdam’s technical components have undergone multiple rounds of Devnet-4 and Devnet-5 testing, making this scenario less likely.

Conclusion

As of April 3, 2026, Ethereum’s price stands at $2,053.26, down 0.04% in 24 hours, with a market cap of $248.51 billion and a market share of 10.28%. While this is still far from its all-time high, structural changes at both the on-chain and protocol levels are quietly accumulating. Glamsterdam’s technical roadmap is now clear, with core components undergoing final-stage testing on Devnet-5.

During the week of the Drift hack, about $285 million in stolen assets crossed from Solana to Ethereum and ultimately settled as ETH. This detail is worth pondering: regardless of shifting market narratives, in the world of crypto assets, the deepest liquidity, the broadest acceptance, and the safest exit channels all point in one direction. Glamsterdam’s mission is to further cement this structural advantage—not through storytelling, but through fundamental protocol redesign.

The final outcome will be determined by mainnet performance. Until then, all discussions of 10,000 TPS, 78% fee reductions, and ePBS are both exercises in expectation management and key tests of whether Ethereum is truly entering an "engineering upgrade era."