Ethereum upgrade to change gas fee rule for new addresses

However, with the Glamsterdam upgrade, this will change. While sending ETH to an existing account will still cost 21,000 gas, transactions directed to addresses that have never been recorded on the blockchain will incur an additional charge. This new charge, termed 'state gas,' will amount to 183,600 units. The rationale behind this distinction is that creating and permanently storing a new account record requires more computational work from the network than simply adjusting the balances of an already existing account.

Developers from the Ethereum Foundation have alerted wallet providers, blockchain trackers, and fee calculators about this impending change. They are urging these entities to update any software that assumes 21,000 gas is the minimum and maximum fee for an ETH transfer. Failure to do so could result in valid payments being rejected or inaccurate fee estimations.

The Glamsterdam upgrade is currently undergoing testing on Platåberget, a practice network using valueless tokens, before moving to the Sepolia and Hoodi testnets, and eventually the main Ethereum network. Users are not required to take any action this week, as the warning is directed at the service providers whose software facilitates their transactions.