TL;DR
- Developers plan two 2026 upgrades, Glamsterdam and Hegota, and want a predictable twice yearly release cadence to reduce uncertainty.
- Glamsterdam targets H1 2026, focusing on gas optimizations and ePBS to separate builders and proposers and lower censorship risk.
- Hegota targets H2 2026, combining Bogota and Heze; scope talks start Jan 8 with finalization by end Feb, alongside 128 bit security work with soundcalc in February and Glamsterdam alignment in May.
Ethereum’s core developers are lining up two major network upgrades for 2026, code named Glamsterdam and Hegota, and the message is unusually operational: ship faster, on a predictable cadence, and reinforce Ethereum’s position versus high performance rivals. The roadmap aims to standardize upgrades twice per year, making planning more legible for builders, infrastructure operators, and governance participants who need reliable timelines.
The emphasis is not on a new narrative, but on execution quality, from scalability to gas efficiency. Inside that strategy, a predictable upgrade calendar becomes a competitive asset, reducing uncertainty for applications that depend on base layer stability. Developers also frame the push as removing technical friction that still complicates broad adoption and user experience. The approach continues a strategy toward a faster release rhythm, a move that could give teams clearer checkpoints for testing, readiness, and ecosystem coordination before each hard fork.
Key themes for Ethereum in 2026
Glamsterdam is slated for the first half of 2026, arriving soon after the recent Fusaka hard fork, and is positioned as a short term scalability and efficiency package. Developers say it will center on gas optimizations and Enshrined Proposer Builder Separation, or ePBS, which would separate block builder and block proposer roles at the protocol level. That change is framed as a lever to reduce censorship risk and further decentralize the network, while keeping block production incentives aligned.
The full feature set is still being finalized, with developers planning to lock scope shortly after the holiday break. Taken together, Glamsterdam is pitched as near term throughput and cost wins rather than a philosophical reset, setting a template for how the network executes on semiannual delivery. By enshrining the separation at the base layer, the design shifts a key market structure assumption into protocol rules.
Hegota is planned for the second half of 2026 and is explicitly dual in scope, combining an execution layer upgrade called Bogota with a consensus layer upgrade called Heze. An analyst tracking protocol governance, Christine Kim, noted that discussions to define Hegota’s scope are set to begin on the All Core Developers call on January 8, with a final scope expected by the end of February.
In parallel, the Ethereum Foundation is directing long term research toward security, including a target of 128 bit provable security before the end of 2026, described as foundational for institutional grade financial applications and zkEVM safety. Milestones include a soundcalc integration in February and full alignment with Glamsterdam in May. Across tracks, security plus usability becomes the 2026 north star, with plans to lower entry barriers and deliver a more consumer like experience for broader user adoption globally.
