Ethereum's Glamsterdam upgrade changes the flat 21,000 gas fee for new account creations.

Ethereum's upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade breaks the long-standing flat 21,000 gas rule for ETH transfers: transfers to existing accounts keep the 21,000 gas cost, while creating a new account now incurs additional state gas charges to manage network growth sustainably. Wallets and developer tools must update their transaction logic to avoid failures when sending ETH to new addresses. The Ethereum Foundation has launched a testnet to help developers adapt before the upgrade goes live, which also includes other protocol improvements such as proposer-builder separation and larger contract code sizes.