In a significant shift toward transparency and collaborative governance, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) Protocol cluster has released its first-ever unified tier list for the upcoming "Hegoté" network upgrade. This milestone represents a departure from the traditional model of fragmented, team-specific opinions, offering instead a singular, consensus-driven view of the 62 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) currently under consideration.
With roughly 60 researchers and engineers from nine distinct teams participating, the process has yielded 397 individual grades, providing a clear roadmap for the next phase of Ethereum’s technical evolution. While Geth—the foundation’s execution layer (EL) client—will continue to publish its own independent assessment, this unified document serves as a primary datapoint for the broader Ethereum ecosystem.
I. A New Methodology for Protocol Development
The "Hegoté" evaluation process was designed to be as rigorous as it was inclusive. Over several months, contributors from across the Protocol cluster filled out detailed contribution templates, providing grades for EIPs where they possessed deep domain expertise. This resulted in an average of 6.4 evaluations per proposal, with high-priority items drawing as many as nine independent assessments.
The Scoring Framework
The grading system employed a straightforward ladder:
- S (4 points): Must-ship, top-tier priority.
- A (3 points): Expected to ship; high merit.
- B (2 points): Bubble candidates; require specific technical or logistical hurdles to be cleared.
- C (1 point): Below the line; unlikely for this upgrade.
- D/DFI (0 points): Declined for the current scope.
The published results are not mere averages of these scores. Instead, they are "steelmanned" arguments—a process where the group engaged in intensive, EIP-by-EIP working sessions to refine the consensus. During these sessions, proposals were debated, and grades were adjusted to reflect the collective reality of engineering capacity, security requirements, and long-term protocol health.
Lessons from Glamsterdam
This process was heavily informed by retrospectives on the previous "Glamsterdam" upgrade. Key takeaways included the necessity of accurately sizing EIPs by their integration depth, the realization that complexity compounds exponentially, and the understanding that the "testing surface" is a finite, scarce resource. Perhaps most importantly, the cluster noted that EIP "champions" often underestimate the integration overhead of their proposals.
II. Strategic Priorities: The Hegoté Roadmap
The "Hegoté" upgrade is anchored by a clear set of priorities outlined in the companion publication, EF Protocol: Current and Emerging Priorities. The cluster’s focus is clear: ensuring that every accepted proposal contributes to a more robust, scalable, and secure network without overextending the protocol’s limited testing resources.
Consensus Layer Highlights
At the Consensus Layer (CL), the headline inclusion is EIP-7805 (FOCIL). This proposal is viewed as a vital step in democratizing transaction inclusion, allowing users to submit eligible transactions without depending on centralized builders. The cluster has signaled that FOCIL should be paired with EIP-8369 (VOPS Profiles) to maximize its efficacy.
Other notable inclusions in the A-tier include EIP-8015, which cleans up redundant deposit and eth1data fields, and EIP-8365, which addresses the retirement of vulnerable BLS withdrawal credentials. These represent a "housekeeping" philosophy that prioritizes technical hygiene as much as new feature development.
Execution Layer Highlights
On the Execution Layer (EL), EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions) stands out as the primary headliner. By providing a path to native account abstraction and enabling future-proof post-quantum (PQ) signature schemes, it is viewed as essential infrastructure. The cluster plans to bundle this with EIP-8250 and EIP-8272 to create a cohesive upgrade package.
The EL list also features significant "cleanup" initiatives, such as EIP-3298 (Removal of Refunds) and EIP-4758 (Deactivate SELFDESTRUCT). These removals are calculated efforts to reduce the "testing hazard" that these opcodes present for future protocol changes. By eliminating legacy technical debt, the core developers aim to simplify the maintenance burden for client teams.
III. The "Bubble" and the "Below the Line"
A critical aspect of this tier list is the clarity provided for proposals that did not make the cut. The cluster has categorized these with specific, actionable feedback.
- B-Tier (The Bubble): Proposals like EIP-8198 (Quick Slots) have shown promise but remain in limbo. The cluster has explicitly stated that for these to move to A-tier, they require full technical specifications, a working prototype, an in-depth impact assessment, and proof that they do not complicate decoupled consensus.
- DFI (Declined): Many proposals, such as EIP-7716 (Anti-Correlation Attestation Penalties) and EIP-8142 (Block-in-Blobs), were declined not necessarily because they were "bad ideas," but because they did not meet the "necessity bar" for the Hegoté cycle. For instance, EIP-7716, while theoretically sound, was deemed to require more research regarding its impact on staker centralization before it can be considered for a hard fork.
IV. Implications for the Ecosystem
The release of this tier list sends a clear signal to the Ethereum community: the era of "feature-heavy" upgrades is shifting toward one of "measured, sustainable evolution." By being transparent about what is being rejected, the EF Protocol cluster is attempting to manage expectations and provide guidance to external contributors.
The Success of Refusal
The document emphasizes that "success here is determined as much by what we decline as by what we ship." This philosophy is a direct response to the complexity crises that have plagued previous blockchain upgrades. By keeping the scope light, the team intends to minimize the risk of bugs and ensure that the testing surface remains manageable.
The Path to Mainnet
With 15 proposals expected to ship and 28 explicitly declined, the scope for Hegoté is now largely defined. However, the door is not entirely closed. The "TBD" category, which includes EIP-8368 and EIP-8372, highlights that some decisions remain contingent on empirical data from the upcoming mainnet performance of the Glamsterdam upgrade.
V. Engaging the Community
The EF Protocol cluster is committed to an open dialogue regarding these decisions. To facilitate this, they have announced a Reddit AMA scheduled for September 16 at 2pm UTC. This event will serve as a forum for developers, researchers, and stakeholders to challenge the tiering logic.
The cluster has specifically invited the champions of non-A-tier and declined EIPs to participate, suggesting a willingness to revisit decisions if new data or compelling arguments are presented. A formal submission process for questions is currently active, ensuring that the most pressing community concerns reach the engineers responsible for the implementation.
VI. In Closing
The Hegoté tier list is more than a technical document; it is a governance statement. By centralizing the evaluation process and providing public, rationale-based feedback for every proposal, the Ethereum Foundation is fostering a more predictable and collaborative development environment.
As Ethereum continues to scale, the ability to balance innovation with stability will be the defining challenge for its core developers. If the Hegoté process is any indication, the path forward is one of rigorous prioritization, a commitment to technical minimalism, and a transparent approach to the difficult choices required to maintain the world’s most significant decentralized network.
Key Statistics of the Hegoté Evaluation:
- Total EIPs Evaluated: 62
- Must-Ship Proposals: 2
- Expected to Ship: 15
- Declined (DFI): 28
- Total Grades Cast: 397
- Average Grades per EIP: 6.4
For further reading, stakeholders are encouraged to consult the companion post, "EF Protocol: Current and Emerging Priorities," which details the overarching strategy and the specific "north star" objectives driving these grades.
