Ethereum developers are working on two different solutions to prevent the upcoming Glamsterdam network upgrade from breaking existing smart contracts, as growing concerns over changes to gas fees raise questions about the safety of the upgrade. The main concern is that changes to Ethereum’s gas pricing rules could affect applications that are already running on the network, potentially causing transactions to fail or disrupting services that hold users’ funds.
On Sunday, November 8, developers Leo Glisic and Giulio Rebuffo introduced two separate proposals designed to address these problems. Both proposals aim to make the new gas pricing system work without forcing older smart contracts to change the way they operate. However, the developers have suggested different approaches to achieve this.
Glisic’s proposal, known as EIP-8488, would allow older smart contracts to continue using the gas pricing rules they were originally built around. Under his plan, newly created contracts would use a new set of instructions called V2 opcodes, which would follow the updated gas pricing rules introduced through EIP-8037 and EIP-8038. This would allow Ethereum to move forward with its planned changes while keeping older applications compatible with the existing system.
Rebuffo has proposed a different approach. His draft would introduce two separate gas accounting systems within each transaction. One system would calculate gas consumption using the old rules, allowing existing contracts to operate as expected. The second would calculate the actual transaction fees based on the new pricing structure. This approach is intended to protect older applications while still allowing Ethereum to introduce its updated fee system.
However, neither proposal has been approved for inclusion in Glamsterdam, and both still require further technical work and testing.
The concerns mainly come from two planned changes, EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, which will change how Ethereum charges for creating and accessing data stored on its blockchain. Under EIP-8037, the base gas cost for creating a smart contract would increase from 32,000 to 183,600, before additional execution and code storage costs are included.
Although the changes are intended to better account for the resources used by blockchain activity, security researchers have warned that many existing smart contracts were designed around the current gas pricing rules. If those costs suddenly change, some applications could face unexpected problems during transaction execution.
Security concerns have become more serious after researchers identified around 200,000 smart contracts that could potentially be affected. Pseudonymous developer banteg warned that the actual number could be even higher because of limitations in the existing analysis. The risks are not limited to small or inactive contracts, as established DeFi protocols and applications that manage user funds could also face problems.
Security firm ChainSecurity has also identified eight assumptions used by existing smart contracts that could become invalid under the proposed gas changes. Some contracts depend on fixed gas limits when making external calls, while others rely on specific behavior when transactions fail. Changes to gas consumption could interfere with these operations and create unexpected results.
The situation has also sparked strong reactions across the Ethereum community. Curve Finance founder Michael Egorov warned that moving forward without fixing the compatibility issues could create serious problems for the network and potentially force developers to carry out an emergency hard fork to reverse the changes.
Ethereum investor and community member Ryan Berckmans also changed his earlier position on the upgrade. He had previously supported moving ahead with Glamsterdam more quickly, but later said that he was wrong to support rapid activation after reviewing the risks. He now believes developers should take more time to address the problems before moving forward.
Security researcher pcaversaccio has also called for the upgrade to be held back in its current form, arguing that the gas pricing changes should not be introduced until the potential risks have been properly addressed.
Meanwhile, Ethereum developers have already delayed parts of Glamsterdam’s testing schedule. The planned activation on the Hoodi test network, which was scheduled for October 26, was postponed after security concerns emerged. The delay affected several planned changes, including the Amsterdam execution layer updates, Gloas consensus changes, and a proposed increase in Hoodi’s gas limit to 200 million.
On November 6, Ethereum Foundation developer Marius van der Wijden said the team was working with security firms ChainSecurity and Dedaub to review potentially affected applications and collect feedback from developers. The goal is to better understand the risks before allowing the upgrade to move forward.
Developers had also tentatively discussed another private Glamsterdam test between November 16 and November 20 at the earliest, although that schedule was discussed before the two new proposals were submitted.
For now, Ethereum developers face an important decision: how to introduce the new gas pricing rules without putting existing applications and user funds at risk. The two proposals offer different ways to protect older smart contracts, but further testing and technical reviews will be needed before developers decide which approach, if either, should become part of the Glamsterdam upgrade.