Ethereum Pauses Hoodi Fork as Glamsterdam Bugs Surface
Ethereum postponed its Hoodi testnet hard fork on 6 November 2026, after security auditors warned the coming Glamsterdam upgrade could break live smart contracts. For everyday wallet users, this matters because unresolved bugs in lending apps or DEXs could mean failed transactions or stuck funds once Glamsterdam ships.
What actually happened
The Ethereum Foundation confirmed the delay on 6 November 2026, citing findings from auditor ChainSecurity, according to Wu Blockchain. ChainSecurity found that EIP-8037 and EIP-8038, which adjust gas costs for certain operations and change how state storage is charged, could invalidate assumptions baked into existing contracts. Core developers paused the Hoodi testnet hard fork until the risks are cleared. The Foundation listed eight categories of affected execution assumptions on GitHub and asked developers to review both on-chain contracts and off-chain services. ETH traded near $2,239 (USD), up 0.03% over 24 hours, moving between $2,223 and $2,243. Daily trading volume hit $3.83 billion (USD), with market capitalization at $273.62 billion (USD).
How we got here
Glamsterdam is Ethereum's next major network upgrade, arriving after several rounds of changes to gas accounting and execution rules. Each adjustment risks breaking older contracts that assumed fixed gas costs, and testnet forks have been delayed before for the same reason. The caution lands as other chains lean closer to Ethereum rather than away from it. This week, Scroll and Zilliqa both announced moves toward Ethereum-anchored infrastructure, a sign that Ethereum still anchors much of the ecosystem even as its own upgrade path grows more complicated and harder to test fully before launch.
Why this matters for you
For everyday wallet holders, the lesson is patience: nothing changes yet, but any dApp you use that relies on gas-cost assumptions could misbehave once Glamsterdam ships. Builders integrating with Ethereum, including teams behind wallet and rewards tools like bonuz, now have a clear deadline to audit contracts before mainnet deployment. For ETH holders, the delay is a mild positive signal: developers chose safety over speed, a pattern that has kept major Ethereum upgrades free of serious incidents. Price action reflects that calm, with ETH steady near $2,239 and no sign that markets expect disruption from the review.
The bigger question
The open question: how many contracts already live on Ethereum quietly depend on today's gas-cost rules, and can auditors catch them all before Glamsterdam launches? Past gas changes have been manageable, but never bundled at this scale. The answer decides whether this becomes routine housekeeping or a longer, costlier delay, with ripple effects for every protocol, wallet, and app built on assumptions nobody has stress-tested yet.
What to watch
No new date is set for the Hoodi testnet hard fork. The Ethereum Foundation says it will resume once ChainSecurity's findings are addressed, with more audit reports expected soon. Separately, ZetaChain's vote to migrate to Solana closed on 7 November 2026, with its own Layer 1 set to halt blocks on 9 December 2026, a reminder that not every chain is waiting on Ethereum's roadmap.
