Ethereum 2026: An In-Depth Analysis of Two Major Upgrades: Glamsterdam Performance Scaling and Hegotá State Lightening

In 2025, Ethereum successfully delivered two hard fork upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, demonstrating the feasibility of a development pace of “twice a year.” Entering 2026, the Ethereum Foundation released the “Protocol Priorities Update for 2026,” which systematically planned for two named upgrades—Glamsterdam and Hegotá—and promoted institutional evolution of the protocol layer around three main themes: Scale, Improve UX, and Harden the L1. These two upgrades mark Ethereum’s transition from fragmented updates centered on EIPs to an era of “predictable engineering delivery.”

How the upgrade pace accelerates from “once a year” to “twice a year every six months”

Ethereum’s upgrade rhythm is undergoing a structural shift. Since The Merge shifted to PoS in September 2022, the network has maintained a rhythm of roughly one major upgrade per year, such as Shapella in 2023 and Dencun in 2024. However, the successful implementation of the dual upgrades Pectra and Fusaka in 2025 validated the feasibility of a six-month release cycle. In 2026, Glamsterdam is scheduled for the first half of the year, with Hegotá following in the second half. These two upgrades form a progressive relationship in terms of technical goals: the former addresses “how to make the network faster,” and the latter answers “how to make the network lighter and more sustainable.” This engineering-paced control allows ecosystem participants to form stable expectations about protocol evolution, reducing uncertainties in development and deployment.

How Glamsterdam achieves performance breakthroughs through parallel processing

Ethereum’s current transaction processing mode is essentially serial—each transaction is executed in order, and nodes can process only one transaction at a time. The core breakthrough of the Glamsterdam upgrade is the introduction of block-level access lists, which prefetch read-write dependencies of transactions, assign conflict-free transactions to different CPU cores for parallel execution, and achieve a fundamental shift from “single-lane” to “multi-lane” processing.

The implementation of parallel processing relies on EIP-7928, which redefines the working mechanism of Gas and state access. Meanwhile, the Gas cap is planned to increase from the current 60 million to 200 million, potentially bringing theoretical TPS from around 1,000 close to ten thousand. The re-pricing of Gas fees is also underway—EIP-7904 charges based on actual CPU, storage, and bandwidth consumption, and after adjustment, Gas fees could decrease by approximately 78.6%. A current Uniswap transaction costing between $3 and $8 might drop below $1 after the upgrade. These changes not only lower the barrier for user adoption but also provide a more scalable infrastructure for RWA on-chain assets and high-frequency DeFi interactions.

How ePBS changes the power structure of block construction

Maximizing extractable value (MEV) has long been a core governance challenge for Ethereum. Currently, block construction heavily depends on external relay markets; most validators no longer build blocks themselves but rely on a few specialized builders to order transactions and pack blocks, leading to de facto centralization of power. The core solution in the Glamsterdam upgrade is the embedded proposer-builder separation, namely ePBS (EIP-7732), which writes block construction logic directly into the protocol layer.

Under the ePBS mechanism, block builders can continue competing to create high-reward blocks, but the bidding and selection process is automatically executed by the protocol, removing reliance on external relays. Validators can select optimal blocks without depending on centralized infrastructure, and the rules of block construction become more open and transparent. This design can prevent market dominance by builders from infiltrating staking power, but block construction may still concentrate among high-tier participants. Therefore, ePBS is positioned as a necessary but not sufficient governance step. Studies show that embedding PBS at the protocol level can reduce MEV extraction by about 70%, positively impacting the predictability of transactions for independent validators and DeFi protocols.

How FOCIL and encrypted mempools strengthen censorship resistance

While ePBS addresses the allocation of construction rights, it does not directly tackle censorship risks. To this end, Vitalik Buterin proposed a technical roadmap in March 2026, emphasizing two supplementary mechanisms: FOCIL and encrypted mempools.

FOCIL is a protocol-level enforced transaction inclusion mechanism—comprising a committee of 16 randomly selected provers—that ensures all valid transactions must be included in a block; if necessary transactions are missing, the network will reject the block outright. If extended to a “Big FOCIL” model, FOCIL participants could include most transactions themselves, with builders focusing mainly on MEV-related activities, further limiting censorship opportunities.

Encrypted mempools address attack risks at the transaction layer. Traditional mempools expose transaction information, making them vulnerable to bots monitoring and executing front-running or sandwich attacks. Encrypted mempools hide transaction contents until block confirmation, significantly reducing the impact of malicious MEV strategies on ordinary user transactions. Additionally, Buterin emphasizes the importance of transaction entry points, including anonymized routing via Tor or Ethereum’s dedicated mixing network Flashnet, which is still in open design. Together, these three mechanisms form the core technological suite for Ethereum’s response to MEV issues.

Why Hegotá focuses on lightweight state and quantum resistance

As a planned upgrade in the second half of 2026, Hegotá is positioned as a natural continuation of Glamsterdam, with core goals shifting toward “lightweight state” and long-term hardening of the L1. By April 2026, key features of Hegotá have been selected—FOCIL (EIP-7805) as the top consensus feature, with account abstraction included as a secondary feature set.

The most notable technical breakthrough in Hegotá is the Verkle tree. Compared to the current Merkle Patricia tree, Verkle trees can compress block witnesses from over 10 KB to under 1 KB, reducing node storage requirements by approximately 90%. This significantly lowers hardware barriers for full nodes and creates conditions for the deployment of stateless clients. Additionally, a state expiration mechanism will archive and prune outdated or infrequently accessed state data, curbing state bloat and ensuring long-term sustainability. Regarding quantum resistance, Ethereum plans to gradually implement quantum-resistant signatures over the next four years via the Strawmap roadmap. Glamsterdam and Hegotá will serve as early deployment nodes to advance the integration of quantum-resistant signature schemes.

Engineering challenges faced by parallel processing and state restructuring

Despite clear upgrade goals, practical engineering progress faces significant technical hurdles. Development of Glamsterdam is progressing “slow but steady”: implementing ePBS has proven more complex than expected, as the protocol layer must handle “partial blocks” and two-party coordination, involving nearly every aspect of the tech stack. Re-pricing Gas also presents its own complexities that need to be addressed step-by-step. Currently, the first general-purpose Glamsterdam testnet is targeted to launch after stabilizing the ePBS testnet, followed by client releases, security audits, and testnet testing phases. The likelihood of Glamsterdam going live in Q2 is low, and the progress of Hegotá heavily depends on the completion of Glamsterdam. These engineering challenges serve as a reminder that the actual pace of technical upgrades requires cautious assessment.

Will mainnet sharding change the ecosystem positioning of Layer 2?

In early 2026, Vitalik Buterin reflected critically on Ethereum’s scaling roadmap, noting that many Layer 2 networks have not truly scaled Ethereum, increasingly relying on centralized components and isolated environments, which conflicts with the network’s decentralization principles. As Glamsterdam and Hegotá push for substantial throughput improvements on the mainnet, the original vision of “L2 as the core scaling vehicle” is being reconsidered. Ethereum’s strategic focus is partially shifting back to the mainnet itself, strengthening L1’s core role through institutionalized scaling and protocol-intrinsic security mechanisms.

Meanwhile, decreasing mainnet fees are impacting validator revenue structures. Data shows that Ethereum’s base layer revenue recently declined by about 38.3% to $8.43 million, which aligns with the expected outcomes of the roadmap but also sparks discussions on how value capture is distributed from L1 to stakers. Future L1 and L2 may form a new “settlement-service” collaborative paradigm: L1 focusing on providing the highest security and settlement certainty, while L2 evolves into differentiated service providers—covering privacy computing, AI-driven applications, high-frequency trading, and more.

Market expectations and feedback on the two upgrades

As of April 13, 2026, ETH prices have experienced wide fluctuations amid macro pressures. Despite network activity—such as active addresses and smart contract interactions—reaching record highs, price performance has diverged significantly from on-chain activity. Industry analysis indicates that protocol upgrades lay the infrastructure for long-term demand, but short-term prices are more influenced by macroeconomic factors (e.g., Federal Reserve policies) and competition from other blockchains.

However, institutional interest remains strong. Staked ETH ETFs continue to see significant capital inflows, indicating that long-term investors still recognize Ethereum’s structural position as a leading smart contract platform. The technological improvements from Glamsterdam and Hegotá—from parallel processing to lightweight state, from ePBS to FOCIL—point toward a more efficient, censorship-resistant, and sustainable underlying network. Whether these technical improvements translate into ecosystem value capture depends on developer adoption, application layer innovation, and macroeconomic conditions.

Summary

The 2026 Ethereum upgrades Glamsterdam and Hegotá form a logically progressive technical roadmap: Glamsterdam centers on parallel processing and ePBS to address urgent performance bottlenecks and MEV governance; Hegotá, supported by FOCIL, Verkle trees, and state expiration, responds to long-term challenges of state bloat and decentralization. These two upgrades not only continue the engineering rhythm of “twice a year” hard forks but also mark a critical transition of Ethereum from a research-driven project to an institutionalized platform. For industry participants, understanding the technical logic and governance design of these upgrades is fundamental to grasping Ethereum’s future evolution.

FAQ

Q: When are Glamsterdam and Hegotá scheduled to go live?

Glamsterdam is planned for the first half of 2026, with Hegotá following in the second half. The exact timing depends on the completion of development testing, security audits, and testnet validation. Currently, Glamsterdam’s mainnet launch in Q2 is less likely.

Q: What is ePBS? How does it differ from existing MEV governance mechanisms?

ePBS is a mechanism that separates proposers and builders directly within the protocol layer. Unlike the current reliance on external relays, ePBS automates block bidding and selection within the protocol, reducing dependence on external trust and increasing transparency and censorship resistance.

Q: How does FOCIL address block censorship?

FOCIL involves a committee of 16 randomly selected provers that enforce transaction inclusion—ensuring all valid transactions are included in a block. If necessary transactions are missing, the network rejects the block outright, thus guaranteeing transaction inclusion at the protocol level.

Q: What role does Verkle tree play in the Hegotá upgrade?

Verkle trees reduce the size of block witnesses from over 10 KB to under 1 KB, lowering node storage requirements by about 90%. This enables the deployment of lightweight, stateless clients and reduces hardware barriers for full nodes.

Q: What are the direct impacts of these upgrades on ordinary users and developers?

For users, gas fees are expected to decrease significantly, and transaction confirmation speeds will improve. For developers, state management becomes lighter, deployment flexibility increases, and building more complex, high-frequency on-chain applications becomes easier.