EIP-8037/EIP-8038 Glamsterdam

Glamsterdam, the next Ethereum upgrade, is undergoing testing on testnets where Chainsecurity identified projects that may break after deployment due to changes in gas charging rules introduced by EIP-8037 and EIP-8038. These proposals redefine how gas fees are calculated for specific operations and state updates, altering long-standing assumptions about transaction costs. The findings prompted the AllCoreDevs (ACD) to pause the hardfork timeline and postpone the Hoodi network fork until the issues are addressed. The delay does not impact ongoing work on the Hegota upgrade, which continues in parallel.

To assess the full scope of potential disruptions, ACD is collaborating with auditing firms Chainsecurity and Dedaub while conducting internal reviews, but acknowledges that not all Ethereum projects can be covered. The team has issued a public call for developers and auditors to proactively review their projects for reliance on eight specific invariants that will be invalidated by Glamsterdam. A dedicated repository has been created to document these invariants, including explanations, examples, and verification prompts to assist in self-assessment.

The repository outlines eight invariants that will no longer hold true post-Glamsterdam, such as assumptions about gas refunds or state access patterns that may lead to unexpected behavior or higher costs. Developers are encouraged to use the provided tools to check their contracts and off-chain infrastructure for dependencies on these invariants. Early detection is critical to prevent operational failures or financial losses once the upgrade goes live on mainnet.

If developers discover their projects are affected by the upcoming changes, they are asked to contact the Glamsterdam team at glamsterdam@ethereum.org for guidance and potential mitigation strategies. The Ethereum community is urged to participate in this review process to ensure a smoother transition and minimize disruptions across the ecosystem.