Glamsterdam upgrade introduces variable gas costs for ETH transfers, breaking the long-standing 21,000 gas rule for new addresses.
Ethereum’s upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade will eliminate the flat 21,000 gas fee for basic ETH transfers. Sending ether to a new address will now cost 204,600 gas, while transfers to existing accounts remain at 21,000 gas.
The change targets the network’s state growth, requiring additional gas to create and store new accounts. Ethereum developers have urged wallet providers and blockchain services to update software to avoid miscalculating fees.
Gas fees measure computational work on Ethereum, paid in ETH. The current flat rate applies regardless of whether the recipient address has been used before.