As Ethereum continues its evolution into a more scalable, efficient, and decentralized network, 2026 promises to be a pivotal year with two major hard forks: Glamsterdam in the first half of the year and Hegota toward the end.
These upgrades reflect Ethereum's shift to a biannual release cadence, accelerating progress amid growing Layer 2 (L2) adoption and institutional interest.
Following the successful Fusaka upgrade in December 2025 - which introduced PeerDAS and slashed validator bandwidth needs by ~85% - these forks address community concerns over development pace while tackling key challenges like centralization risks and node hardware requirements.
Glamsterdam: Tackling MEV and Enhancing Efficiency
Scheduled for the first half of 2026, Glamsterdam responds directly to criticisms that Ethereum's protocol development has lagged behind network growth. Its flagship feature is Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), a protocol-native implementation of the Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) mechanism currently handled off-chain via relays like MEV-Boost.
Under the existing system, specialized builders assemble profitable blocks (capturing Maximum Extractable Value, or MEV) and submit them through relays, introducing risks of centralization - where a few relays dominate - and potential transaction ordering manipulation.
ePBS enshrines this separation directly in the consensus layer: builders compile transactions into sealed blocks, while proposers (validators) select the highest-bid block "blindly" based solely on the promised reward.
This eliminates last-minute tampering, reduces censorship risks, and democratizes MEV distribution.
Additional features include Block-level Access Lists to alleviate state access bottlenecks and gas repricings for better resource alignment. These changes lay groundwork for parallel transaction processing, potentially boosting Layer 1 throughput significantly while supporting the exploding L2 ecosystem.
Hegota: Paving the Way for Stateless Clients
The second 2026 upgrade, Hegota (combining "Bogota" for the execution layer and "Heze" for the consensus layer), targets long-term scalability by focusing on state management. Its primary candidate is Verkle Trees, an advanced data structure replacing the current Merkle Patricia Trees.
Verkle Trees enable dramatically smaller cryptographic proofs for state verification - reducing witness sizes by 20-30x compared to today's setup. This is crucial for "stateless clients," where nodes no longer need to store the full Ethereum state (currently over 1 TB and growing).
Instead, blocks include compact "witnesses" proving validity, lowering hardware barriers and allowing anyone to run a node on modest devices. Verkle Trees combat state bloat, enhance decentralization, and prepare Ethereum for vastly higher throughput without compromising security.
Any features deferred from Glamsterdam due to complexity - such as state or history expiry—may roll into Hegota, maintaining momentum.
Building on Recent Momentum: Fusaka and Record Performance
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These 2026 upgrades build on Fusaka's December 2025 activation, which introduced Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS). PeerDAS allows validators to sample blob data rather than download full datasets, cutting bandwidth requirements by ~85% and enabling massive blob throughput increases (up to 8x initially, with flexible adjustments).
This has supercharged L2 rollups, driving Ethereum's ecosystem-wide transactions per second (TPS) to new highs - peaking over 32,000-34,000 TPS in mid-to-late December 2025, including L2 contributions.
Fusaka's blob expansions and gas limit hikes have already slashed L2 fees by 40-60%, fueling adoption in DeFi, NFTs, and beyond.
Security Milestone: 128-Bit Cryptographic Strength
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Complementing technical upgrades, the Ethereum Foundation has prioritized cryptographic robustness, targeting 128-bit provable security for zkEVMs (zero-knowledge Ethereum Virtual Machines) by the end of 2026.
This "non-negotiable" standard - aligned with global benchmarks - ensures resistance to advanced attacks, including potential quantum threats.
Milestones include 100-bit security by mid-2026 (tied to Glamsterdam) and full implementation later, critical for institutional applications handling trillions in value.
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Broader Implications
Ethereum's accelerated roadmap underscores a commitment to scalability without sacrificing decentralization. With L2 TVL surging and TPS records tumbling, 2026's upgrades position the network for 10,000+ sustainable TPS on L1 (and far higher ecosystem-wide) while making solo staking viable long-term. Challenges remain - coordinating complex changes across clients and mitigating risks like builder collusion - but the biannual cadence signals maturity and responsiveness.
As Ethereum approaches these forks, developers emphasize testing and community input, ensuring the network remains the premier settlement layer for Web3.
