London, UK – April 10, 2026 – Ethereum, the world’s leading smart contract platform, is in the midst of an ambitious and intricate development cycle, with its core developers diligently working on two pivotal network upgrades: Glamsterdam and Hegotá. While the rapid succession of previous forks like Fusaka sparked optimism for accelerated development, the current Glamsterdam upgrade is proving to be a more formidable challenge, requiring meticulous attention to foundational changes. This periodic "Checkpoint" series offers a high-level overview of these developments, drawing insights from the extensive All Core Developer (ACD) calls and community discussions.
The overarching sentiment among core developers is one of slow but steady progress. Glamsterdam, the immediate successor, is grappling with the intricate implementation of enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), a monumental architectural shift designed to bolster decentralization and mitigate Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) concerns. Concurrently, the subsequent upgrade, Hegotá, has solidified its primary consensus layer feature, FOCIL (EIP-7805), while committing to integrate Account Abstraction (AA) as a critical minor feature, reflecting a strong community push for enhanced user experience. The journey underscores Ethereum’s commitment to continuous innovation, even as it navigates the inherent complexities of evolving a decentralized global computer.
The Road Ahead: Navigating Ethereum’s Upgrade Pipeline
Ethereum’s development is a continuous, community-driven process, orchestrated through a series of "hard forks" or network upgrades. These upgrades introduce new functionalities, optimize existing ones, and address critical protocol improvements. The decisions and progress are openly debated and documented in regular All Core Developer calls, which are categorized by focus: ACDT (All Core Devs – Technical), ACDC (All Core Devs – Consensus), and ACDE (All Core Devs – Execution). The "Forkcast" platform serves as a vital public repository, offering comprehensive details on considered and scheduled features for each upcoming upgrade, providing transparency into Ethereum’s evolving roadmap.
Each proposed feature, or Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP), undergoes a rigorous lifecycle, moving through stages such as "Proposed for Inclusion" (PFI), "Considered for Inclusion" (CFI), and "Scheduled for Inclusion" (SFI). Features reaching SFI status are almost certainly part of the live upgrade, while CFI features are strong candidates whose inclusion depends on implementation complexity and compatibility with scheduled items. This structured, iterative approach ensures that only well-vetted and thoroughly tested changes are integrated into the mainnet, safeguarding the network’s stability and security.
Glamsterdam: A Deep Dive into the Next Frontier
Glamsterdam represents a significant leap in Ethereum’s evolution, introducing changes that touch fundamental aspects of block production and transaction processing. The upgrade’s progress, while slower than initially anticipated, reflects the profound nature of its headline features.
Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS): A Paradigm Shift
The cornerstone of Glamsterdam is the implementation of enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS, EIP-7732). This represents a radical rethinking of how blocks are created and validated on Ethereum. Currently, block production often involves external "builders" who construct blocks for "proposers" (validators) to sign, a process that can lead to MEV extraction and centralization risks. ePBS aims to bring this separation within the protocol itself, meaning the consensus layer will directly manage the relationship and responsibilities between block proposers and block builders.
The goal of ePBS is multifaceted: to mitigate MEV by reducing the proposer’s ability to directly influence transaction ordering for personal gain, thereby enhancing network fairness and decentralization. By separating the roles, it aims to prevent a single entity from controlling both the content and the proposal of a block. However, this architectural shift introduces unprecedented complexities. The protocol must now account for "partial blocks" and manage potential disagreements or failures between two distinct parties acting in sequence within the consensus mechanism. This necessitates a fundamental re-evaluation of practically every part of the Ethereum stack, from how transactions are processed to how state is accessed and updated. The difficulty lies in ensuring robust fault tolerance and economic incentives within this new two-party coordination model.
On the execution layer side, Block-level Access Lists (BALs, EIP-7928) are a critical component underpinning ePBS. BALs represent a fundamental rethinking of how gas and state access permissions operate, aiming to make transaction execution more predictable and efficient. Developers are making steady progress through the expectedly difficult problems associated with BALs on dedicated devnets, gradually stabilizing the intricate interdependencies.
Optimizing the Engine: Gas Repricings and Contract Size
Beyond ePBS, Glamsterdam incorporates several crucial optimizations. A bundle of gas repricings (e.g., EIP-8007) is being prioritized, aiming to fine-tune the cost of various operations on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). These repricings are not merely about adjusting fees; they are designed to improve network efficiency, reduce overall transaction costs, and enhance the security of the network by making certain computationally intensive operations more accurately priced. The complexities involved in these adjustments are significant, as they require a delicate balance to avoid unintended consequences for existing smart contracts and network stability.
Another highly anticipated feature is EIP-7954, an increase to the maximum contract size. This seemingly simple change has profound implications for developers. The current contract size limit restricts the complexity and scope of smart contracts that can be deployed on Ethereum. By raising this limit, developers will have greater freedom to build more sophisticated, feature-rich decentralized applications (dApps) without resorting to complex and often less efficient contract splitting strategies. Ecosystem developers have been vocal about the importance of this EIP, recognizing its potential to unlock a new wave of innovation on the platform.
Development Milestones and the Path to Mainnet
The development lifecycle for Glamsterdam is following a rigorous, multi-stage process. Developers are aiming for the launch of the first generalized Glamsterdam devnet in the coming weeks, contingent on the stabilization of the current ePBS-focused devnet. This initial generalized devnet will gradually incorporate more and more of the non-headliner features. Once a stable devnet, complete with all intended features, is achieved, client teams will proceed to cut official client releases. These releases will then undergo final security reviews before being deployed to public testnets. Only after these testnets demonstrate sustained stability will the highly anticipated mainnet fork date be officially announced.
The intricate nature of ePBS and other fundamental changes means that Glamsterdam’s progress is inherently deliberate. While the initial enthusiasm following Pectra suggested a quicker turnaround, the technical challenges are substantial. Consequently, a Q2 2026 mainnet launch for Glamsterdam now appears unlikely, reflecting the developers’ commitment to security and thoroughness over speed.
Hegotá: Setting Sights on the Horizon
Even as Glamsterdam is under active development, the Ethereum community is already charting the course for the subsequent upgrade, Hegotá. This forward-looking approach ensures a continuous pipeline of improvements, maintaining Ethereum’s competitive edge and long-term viability.
FOCIL (EIP-7805): The Consensus Layer’s Chosen Path
The selection process for Hegotá’s major features has concluded, with FOCIL (EIP-7805) emerging as the chosen consensus layer headliner. While specific technical details of FOCIL are still being refined and articulated, its selection signals a commitment to a significant protocol improvement aimed at enhancing the efficiency, security, or overall robustness of Ethereum’s consensus mechanism. The decision underscores the ongoing dedication to strengthening the foundational layer of the network, ensuring its continued resilience and scalability.
The Account Abstraction Debate: Enhancing User Experience
A significant focus for Hegotá’s execution layer is Account Abstraction (AA). This concept aims to revolutionize how users interact with Ethereum by making accounts programmable smart contracts rather than simple externally owned accounts (EOAs). AA promises a vastly improved user experience, enabling features like customizable transaction validation logic, batch transactions, sponsored transactions, social recovery, and multi-factor authentication, all without relying on centralized intermediaries. It paves the way for "smart contract wallets" that offer unparalleled flexibility and security.
The debate surrounding Account Abstraction has been "heated," reflecting the diverse technical approaches and the profound impact AA will have on the ecosystem. EIP-8141, known as "Frame transactions," was one prominent proposal, but a lack of broad consensus on its specific implementation choices led to its reclassification to "Considered for Inclusion" (CFI) as a non-headliner. This move, however, is not a rejection of AA but rather a placeholder commitment to continue working on an Account Abstraction proposal that garners wider support among client developers and actively involves the community in its refinement. The strong desire for AA within the community ensures it remains a high priority for Hegotá.
Quantum Resistance: A Forward-Looking Priority
Looking further into the future, there is increasing interest among developers and the community in prioritizing quantum resistance. The looming threat of quantum computing, which could theoretically break current cryptographic standards, poses a long-term risk to the security of blockchain networks. While no standalone quantum resistance proposal has been introduced for Hegotá, the topic is gaining traction, often integrated as part of broader Account Abstraction packages. This proactive consideration highlights Ethereum’s commitment to future-proofing its security infrastructure against emerging threats.
Community Contributions: Proposing Non-Headliner Features
In a testament to Ethereum’s decentralized and open development philosophy, the opportunity to propose non-headlining features for Hegotá commenced on April 9th. Anyone from the community can submit an EIP by pulling it into the "Proposed for Inclusion" section of the fork’s meta EIP (EIP-8081). This inclusive process ensures that innovative ideas from across the ecosystem can be considered for integration into the network. The closing date for these submissions will be announced with at least two weeks’ notice, providing ample time for contributions. The most up-to-date information on Hegotá’s process and timeline remains available on its dedicated Forkcast page.
The exact timing of Hegotá is highly dependent on the progress and successful deployment of Glamsterdam. Delays in Glamsterdam will inevitably push back the subsequent upgrade, highlighting the interconnected nature of Ethereum’s development roadmap.
Scaling Capacity: The Evolving Gas Limit
A continuous area of focus for Ethereum core developers is the network’s gas limit, which dictates the maximum amount of computational work that can be included in a single block. Increasing the gas limit directly translates to higher transaction throughput and network capacity. Devnets are continuously testing various gas limit increases, with an immediate target for the baseline gas limit set at 60 million.
Beyond this baseline, testing is ongoing at significantly higher limits to understand the implications and necessary optimizations required to safely achieve even greater capacities. Much of the gas repricing work being implemented in Glamsterdam is crucial for enabling these higher limits without compromising network stability or security. By accurately pricing operations and making the EVM more efficient, developers can confidently push the boundaries of Ethereum’s processing capabilities, benefiting all users with potentially lower fees and faster transaction confirmations during periods of high network demand.
Empowering Innovation: The EIP Champion’s Handbook and Strategic Vision
Ethereum’s robust and open-source development model relies heavily on community participation. To facilitate this, new resources have been published on the Protocol Support team website, notably the "EIP Champions Handbook." This comprehensive guide is designed to assist authors and advocates in championing their feature proposals, navigating the intricate EIP process, and effectively seeking stakeholder feedback. It demystifies the stages of an EIP, from initial ideation to potential mainnet inclusion, empowering a broader range of contributors to shape Ethereum’s future.
In parallel with these structured processes, the community-driven "strawmap," published earlier this year, has reignited enthusiasm for a guiding framework for future development. While not an "official Ethereum roadmap" in the traditional sense, the strawmap serves as a valuable tool to help inform feature choices during the upgrade process. It aids in aligning community priorities, fostering a shared understanding of long-term goals, and providing a flexible guideline that can help consolidate efforts across various development initiatives. This collaborative strategic vision complements the iterative upgrade cycle, ensuring that individual forks contribute coherently to Ethereum’s grander evolution, encompassing phases like The Surge, The Scourge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge.
Conclusion
Ethereum’s journey of continuous improvement is a testament to its decentralized ethos and the relentless dedication of its core developers and broader community. While Glamsterdam navigates the profound complexities of enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and fundamental gas optimizations, setting a deliberate pace, Hegotá is already taking shape with a clear focus on consensus layer enhancements and a strong commitment to revolutionary Account Abstraction. The challenges encountered are not signs of weakness but rather indicators of the ambitious and foundational changes being undertaken to secure, scale, and enhance the user experience of the world’s most vital decentralized network.
The slower-than-anticipated progress for Glamsterdam highlights the non-trivial nature of its features, yet the resolve of client developers remains unwavering. The strategic selection of a single headliner for Hegotá, coupled with the commitment to Account Abstraction and an open call for non-headliner EIPs, suggests that subsequent upgrades could follow more rapidly once Glamsterdam’s foundational work is complete. The ongoing efforts to increase the gas limit and the provision of resources like the EIP Champion’s Handbook further underscore a holistic approach to nurturing a thriving and scalable blockchain ecosystem. Ethereum’s evolution is a marathon, not a sprint, and each careful step reinforces its position as the bedrock of decentralized innovation.
Relevant ACD Calls:
[ January 21st – April 9th ]
ACDT: 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67
ACDE: 234, 233, 232, 231, 230, 229
