Ethereum core developers are advancing a proposal that could profoundly reshape the network’s architecture: reducing the mainnet block time from the current 12 seconds to just 6 seconds.
The proposal, officially numbered EIP-7782 (Ethereum Improvement Proposal 7782), was introduced by developer Barnabé Monnot during a core developer meeting on June 21 and is scheduled for potential implementation in the 2026 “Glamsterdam” upgrade.
Monnot stated that shorter slot times would “reduce transaction confirmation delays and improve network responsiveness,” especially benefiting time-sensitive applications like DeFi and Layer 2 solutions. He remarked, “This will enhance Ethereum’s value as a settlement and confirmation layer, boosting its economic capture potential.”
According to the proposal, halving the block time would double the number of blocks per minute from five to ten. This change is expected to bring a number of benefits:
• Faster transaction confirmations: Users would experience significantly reduced wait times;
• More responsive DApp interactions: Wallets and decentralized exchanges (DEXs) would receive faster on-chain feedback;
• Improved DeFi efficiency: More frequent price updates would narrow arbitrage opportunities, helping reduce slippage and inefficiencies;
• Enhanced censorship resistance: More blocks mean higher chances for transactions to be included, diminishing the influence of any single validator.
However, this performance boost comes with considerable technical challenges. Doubling block speed will raise demands on network stability and client workloads. Ethereum researchers noted that clients will need to accelerate processing and synchronization to keep up with more frequent blocks. Operations like signing, block production, and consensus participation will become more intensive. The change could also reshape the distribution and competition around Maximal Extractable Value (MEV). Existing consensus mechanisms, such as Casper FFG, may face new challenges in balancing frequency and stability.
Community Response and Next Steps
EIP-7782 remains in its early discussion phase. In addition to Monnot, developer terence.eth has engaged in detailed discussions on GitHub. The proposal has gained enthusiastic support from some community members, who view it as a vital step toward a “high-performance Ethereum.” Others, however, have expressed concerns that such a high-frequency block schedule could widen the technological gap among validators, potentially affecting decentralization.
Next steps for the proposal include simulation testing and technical evaluations by client development teams, broader community discussions, stress testing, and ultimately, a decision on whether to include it in the next hard fork upgrade (anticipated in the 2026 Glamsterdam release).
The timing of this proposal is no coincidence. Since the successful transition from Proof of Work (PoW) to Proof of Stake (PoS) with “The Merge,” Ethereum has been steadily advancing along its Ethereum 2.0 scaling roadmap. With technologies like Danksharding and Proto-Danksharding underway, Monnot predicts that by 2026, Ethereum’s gas limit could triple and blob (data chunk) availability could increase eightfold. A higher-frequency block mechanism would be a necessary counterpart to these scaling milestones.
If EIP-7782 is successfully implemented, Ethereum would undergo a significant performance upgrade—one that not only enhances user experience but also lays the foundation for a high-throughput, next-generation blockchain financial system. The Glamsterdam upgrade could become Ethereum’s next major milestone following “The Merge.”