Prysm Issues 7.2.1 For Sepolia Gas Test

Update (Oct 6, 05:43 UTC): According to CryptoNews, Prysm released version 7.2.1 to configure the Sepolia testnet to automatically adopt the new 200 million gas limit schedule when Glamsterdam activates.

One of Ethereum’s main validator clients updated its software hours before a Sepolia test designed to raise the amount of work each block can hold to 200 million gas, according to CoinDesk.

Last-Minute Software Release

Ethereum developers released a last-minute Prysm update to ensure validators automatically produce blocks with a 200 million gas limit during the Glamsterdam upgrade’s Sepolia test. Without the update or a manual configuration change, some validators would have continued producing blocks at Sepolia’s previous 60 million gas limit, undermining the capacity test.

Prysm, software used by Ethereum validators, released version 7.2.1 late Monday with the 200 million setting built in. Its previous release was finished before that setting was added to Sepolia's configuration, so validators running it would have stayed at 60 million unless operators changed the number by hand.

Assessing Network Capacity

The test will assess whether validators can reliably handle blocks more than three times larger before developers determine an appropriate capacity for Ethereum’s main network. Gas is the unit Ethereum uses to measure how much computing work fits into a block.

Validators on the latest version will start proposing 200 million-gas blocks automatically when Glamsterdam activates on Sepolia at 13:53:36 UTC on October 6. The 200 million setting applies only to Sepolia, and Glamsterdam has not yet activated on Ethereum's main network.

Key facts

• Prysm released version 7.2.1 late Monday to fix a setting for the Glamsterdam test.
• The Sepolia test raises the block gas limit from 60 million to 200 million.
• The test activates on the Sepolia test network at 13:53:36 UTC on October 6.
• Glamsterdam has not yet activated on Ethereum's main network.