Ethereum 2026 Roadmap: Glamsterdam and Hegotá Upgrades and Long-term Expansion Path

In February 2026, Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake published a draft roadmap titled Strawmap, which for the first time systematically outlines a blueprint for seven protocol forks for Ethereum through the end of 2029. Co-founder Vitalik Buterin immediately publicly confirmed the feasibility of this schedule and described the cumulative effect as a “Ship of Theseus” style reconstruction of Ethereum’s core. This roadmap not only plans the Glamsterdam upgrade in the first half of 2026 and the Hegotá upgrade in the second half, but also formally upgrades post-quantum cryptography from a “research topic” to a “planned upgrade goal.”

According to Gate market data, as of April 16, 2026, Ethereum’s price is $2,357.47, with a market cap of approximately $271.24 billion and a market share of about 10.58%.

The Birth of Strawmap and a Full View of the Roadmap

Strawmap was released by the Ethereum Foundation protocol team after an internal seminar in January 2026. The name is a combination of “strawman” (an initial concept) and “roadmap” (a roadmap), intended to emphasize its exploratory nature—i.e., the plan can be dynamically adjusted as development progresses, rather than being a finalized document. The document explicitly states that it is not an “official” roadmap, but rather a “speed-up coordination tool” for researchers, developers, and governance participants, and is expected to be updated each quarter based on community feedback and R&D progress.

This roadmap lists five core objectives: faster L1 (finality within seconds), a 10,000 TPS “Gigagas” L1 via zkEVM, a high-throughput L2 based on data availability sampling, a post-quantum cryptographic system, and native privacy transfer functionality. Strawmap plans seven forks through 2029, advancing at a roughly every-six-month cadence; among them, the two upgrades Glamsterdam and Hegotá are already confirmed to be implemented within 2026.

From Fusaka to 2029: Ethereum’s Upgrade Cadence

Ethereum’s technical evolution is undergoing a structural shift in cadence. In 2025, Ethereum successfully delivered two hard forks, Pectra and Fusaka, validating the feasibility of a “once every six months” development schedule. The Fusaka upgrade introduced an independent forking mechanism for Blob parameters, allowing Ethereum to adjust the number of Blobs without waiting for a full hard fork. At present, the target number of Blobs per block is 14, with a maximum of 21. Compared with before, the L2 data availability capacity space has increased by 2.3 times.

Building on this, Strawmap plans a complete upgrade sequence extending to 2029. For consensus-layer forks, a star-naming scheme is used, with incrementing initials: Altair, Bellatrix, Capella, Deneb, Electra, Fulu, followed by Glamsterdam, Hegotá, and the subsequent I*, J*, K*, L* forks. Of the two forks confirmed for 2026, Glamsterdam (first half) and Hegotá (second half) are already set. As a special fork, L* will focus on the final rollout of “streamlined consensus.”

Glamsterdam and Hegotá form a progressive relationship in technical goals: the former addresses “how to make the network faster,” while the latter answers “how to make the network lighter and more sustainable.” The Ethereum Foundation has made clear that in 2026, protocol work will proceed along three tracks: Scale (integrating L1 execution and Blob expansion), Improve UX (focusing on native account abstraction and cross-chain interoperability), and Harden the L1 (strengthening security, anti-censorship, and network resilience).

The Technical Core of Seven Forks: Parallelism, Lightweight Design, and a Quantum Defense Line

Glamsterdam: Parallel Processing and Reshaping the Consensus Layer

Glamsterdam is Ethereum’s core upgrade for the first half of 2026, and current development progress shows a “slow but steady” momentum. The upgrade centers on three main goals: accelerating processing through parallelization, expanding capacity through embedded role separation in the protocol, and preventing database bloat through Gas re-pricing.

The #1 feature of Glamsterdam is ePBS (Encapsulated proposer-builder separation, EIP-7732). At present, Ethereum’s block construction heavily depends on external relay networks. Most validators no longer build blocks themselves; instead, they rely on a small number of specialized builders to handle transaction ordering and block packaging—resulting in de facto power concentration. ePBS writes the interaction rules of the builder role directly into the consensus layer, so that the protocol automatically executes the block bidding and selection process, eliminating reliance on external trusted relays. By introducing Payload Timeliness Committees and a dual-deadline logic, ePBS expands the data propagation window from about 2 seconds to about 9 seconds, creating conditions for processing larger volumes of Blob data. Research estimates that embedding PBS at the protocol layer could reduce MEV extraction by about 70%.

On the execution layer, the headline feature is block-level access lists (BALs, EIP-7928). Currently, transaction processing on Ethereum is serial—nodes cannot know in advance which account states a transaction will read or modify, so they must execute transactions one by one in order. BALs require that each block pre-include all state hashes that will be accessed by transactions and the results after execution, providing nodes with a “dependency map.” This allows transactions without conflicts to be assigned to different CPU cores for parallel execution. In combination with the eth/71 network protocol upgrade, nodes can achieve state synchronization that is independent of execution, significantly lowering the barrier for new nodes to join the network.

Meanwhile, a multi-dimensional Gas mechanism will be initially rolled out in Glamsterdam. Under the current single-dimensional Gas model, all compute, storage, and bandwidth resources are priced uniformly, which can lead to distortions in resource pricing. After the reform, state creation Gas will be measured separately and will not be counted toward the current transaction Gas cap of about 16,000,000, addressing EVM sub-call issues via a “reservoir” mechanism. The Gas cap is planned to increase from the current 60,000,000 to 200,000,000. The theoretical TPS could rise from the current ~1,000 to approach the ten-thousands range. After Gas fees are re-priced, a Uniswap trade that currently costs between $3 and $8 could potentially drop to below $1.

As for zkEVM verification clients, the Ethereum Foundation has stated it will proceed in phases: in 2026, there will be clients that allow participation as provers; in 2027, it will recommend that a larger portion of the network run zkEVM and focus on formal verification; ultimately, it will transition to a mandatory 5-of-3 proof mechanism. Glamsterdam will be the first to take zkEVM from research papers to testnet and even mainnet prototype implementations.

Hegotá: State Lightweighting and Strengthening Anti-Censorship

As the upgrade scheduled for the second half of 2026, Hegotá’s core goals shift to “state lightweighting” and long-term hardening of the L1. As of April 2026, Hegotá’s core features have been selected—FOCIL (Mandatory Inclusion List of Forking, EIP-7805) was chosen as the headline consensus-layer feature.

FOCIL is a protocol-layer mandatory transaction inclusion mechanism: a randomly selected proving-validator committee ensures that all valid transactions must be included in a block. If the necessary transactions are missing, the network will directly reject that block. Vitalik Buterin has publicly supported this proposal, pointing out that combined with account abstraction upgrades, valid transactions can be guaranteed to receive confirmation within one to two time slots. The direct background is that previously some validators refused to process transactions related to sanctioned addresses (such as Tornado Cash). FOCIL aims to ensure Ethereum’s anti-censorship properties at the protocol level.

The technical breakthrough receiving the most attention in Hegotá is the introduction of Verkle trees. Compared with the Merkle Patricia trees currently used, Verkle trees can compress block witness size from over 10KB to within 1KB. Node storage requirements are expected to drop by about 90%, creating necessary conditions for stateless clients to be realized. In addition, a state expiration mechanism will archive and prune stale state data that is rarely accessed, curbing the problem of long-term state bloat.

Quantum Resistance: A Security Strategy Rolled Out in Phases

Quantum resistance is one of the core goals running throughout the Ethereum Strawmap roadmap. Vitalik Buterin previously clearly warned that quantum computers could endanger Ethereum’s existing security model before 2028. To address this, the Ethereum Foundation has formed a dedicated post-quantum team, launched biweekly technical workshops, and established a $1,000,000 prize pool, while also planning to hold the second Post-Quantum Research Retreat in Cambridge in October 2026.

Strawmap’s core mission is to gradually replace today’s BLS signature and KZG commitment schemes that do not have quantum resistance, moving toward post-quantum signature schemes based on hash-based or lattice cryptography. Buterin specifically emphasizes a key design: the slot (time window) will take priority over finality to achieve quantum resistance. Currently, Ethereum’s block production slot is about 12 seconds, while transaction finality needs to wait about 16 minutes. The new roadmap plans to gradually compress the slot length using a “square root of 2 decay” formula—from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, 6 seconds, 4 seconds, and ultimately to 2 seconds; meanwhile, it will shorten the finality time to 6 to 16 seconds.

The core value of this “decoupling” design is: even if a sudden emergence of quantum computers causes the finality guarantees to fail temporarily, the main chain can continue producing blocks based on slots that already have post-quantum capability, and the network will not come to a halt. Buterin further explained: “This is a very aggressive change—plan to combine the biggest step in each transition with cryptographic switches, especially switching to post-quantum hash signatures, and adopting the most STARK-friendly hashes.”

Community Sentiment Field: Consensus Foundations vs. Execution Disagreements

The technical direction is broadly accepted, but there are differences on the execution pace

After Strawmap’s release, most developers believe that incorporating quantum resistance into a clear timetable is necessary as a defensive measure. Ethereum’s official documentation states that although quantum computers may not yet pose a real threat for years, the design lifespan of a public chain should be measured in “hundreds of years,” so it needs to be planned as early as possible.

However, some opinions express caution about the execution cadence of “seven forks in four years.” Each fork involves coordinated client updates across all full nodes, and switching cryptographic algorithms is an “invasive change” that could introduce unknown vulnerabilities. Strawmap explicitly labels itself as a draft, which also reflects the development team’s clear-eyed understanding of execution risk.

Framework Transactions Downgraded: The Collision Between Ideals and Reality

On March 26, 2026, Ethereum core developers voted not to list the “Framework Transactions” (EIP-8141) supported by Vitalik Buterin as a core part of the Hegotá upgrade. The reason given was that the proposal is too complex and could affect the overall upgrade cadence. The proposal was downgraded from a “major topic” to a “secondary proposal to consider inclusion.”

Framework transactions aim to drive the integration of native account abstraction and post-quantum signature schemes. Supporters argue that this is crucial for Ethereum’s long-term user experience and security. Biconomy’s co-founder warned that rejecting the proposal would hinder improvements and innovation in Ethereum’s user experience. However, Nethermind client developers pointed out that if it were made a main topic, the upgrade would be “delayed until it gets implemented,” posing a significant risk of major delays for Hegotá. Ultimately, Hegotá’s only confirmed main feature is FOCIL, with account abstraction placed into the set of secondary features. Developers pledged to keep following up, but whether it can be implemented natively on the mainnet still has no clear timeline. This incident highlights a fundamental contradiction in Ethereum’s development: seeking balance between pushing functional innovation and maintaining a stable, predictable upgrade cadence.

Urgency of Quantum Security: An Insurance Policy or a Squeeze on Resources?

Regarding the urgency of post-quantum security, there are two voices in the community. Some developers believe that the practical threat of quantum computing to elliptic curve cryptography is still 10 to 15 years away, and that large-scale investment in the present could crowd out more urgent scaling work. The other camp takes Buterin’s “walkaway test” approach—requiring Ethereum to remain secure for at least 100 years after core developers “walk away,” positioning quantum resistance as a long-term necessary foundational investment. The Ethereum Foundation frames post-quantum security as an insurance policy, and by promoting account abstraction, it provides a cleaner path for migrating to post-quantum signatures.

Examining the Roadmap’s True Commitments

From a technical logic perspective, Ethereum’s shift toward post-quantum cryptography is fully inevitable. The fragility of existing BLS and KZG schemes is a publicly established mathematical fact, not marketing talk. The Ethereum Foundation has not only published a large number of research papers and technical specifications (such as leanSpec and leanSig), but has also set up a layered transition roadmap covering comprehensive upgrades across the execution layer, the consensus layer, and the data layer.

However, the following distinctions are crucial:

First, Strawmap is still a draft. The term “strawman” in its name itself implies an initial proposal that is intentionally not perfect—meant to be brought out so that people can scrutinize it. The cadence of seven forks over four years may be adjusted due to development difficulties or disagreements within the community.

Second, the implementation timeline for Glamsterdam faces real-world challenges. In its April checkpoint, Checkpoint #9 published by the Ethereum Foundation, it clearly states that the Glamsterdam development progress is “slow but steady,” and that implementing ePBS is more complex than expected. The protocol layer needs to handle both “partial blocks” and coordination issues between two parties, involving nearly every aspect of the entire technical stack. Some analyses suggest the likelihood of a launch in the second quarter is low.

Third, the “implementation” of post-quantum features should be understood as “initiating phased deployment,” not as a switch completed overnight. Issues such as the efficiency of post-quantum signature schemes and their compatibility with existing smart contracts still need to be validated in real testnets.

The Roadmap’s Structural Impact on the Industry

If Strawmap advances as planned, Ethereum will produce structural changes across multiple levels.

Redefining the security baseline. Post-quantum signatures will become the standard security requirement for L1, forcing upper-layer applications and wallet service providers to synchronize upgrades to their cryptographic components. Recently, some projects have already released post-quantum wallets compatible with Falcon-512 signatures, and ecosystem support has begun to warm up.

A leap in performance experience. Shortening the slot time to 2 seconds and compressing finality to a seconds-level cadence will significantly improve user experience. Risks of slippage in decentralized exchanges, the fund-locking time in cross-chain bridges, and users’ anxiety while waiting for payments—all of these are expected to be substantially alleviated. This helps Ethereum narrow the experience gap when competing with high-performance public chains.

Evolution of upgrade methodology. A fixed-frequency “six-month fork” marks Ethereum’s move from “major event upgrades” to a “continuous iteration” mode. This cadence is closer to agile development of internet products, providing stable expectation windows for L2 parameter adjustments, wallet adaptation windows, and institutional risk assessment. Whether it can be sustained long-term in a decentralized community remains to be seen.

Rebuilding the value narrative. As Glamsterdam and Hegotá drive real improvements in mainnet throughput, Ethereum is partially returning to a value narrative focused on the mainnet itself. Vitalik Buterin pointed out earlier this year that many L2 networks “have not truly scaled Ethereum,” and there is tension between their growing reliance on centralized components and the principle of decentralization of the mainnet. This assessment suggests that Ethereum’s strategic focus may transition from “using L2 as the core scaling vehicle” to “co-evolution of the mainnet and L2.”

Conclusion

The release of Strawmap marks Ethereum’s official shift from “research exploration” to an “engineering delivery” phase. Glamsterdam and Hegotá, the two key upgrades in 2026, will integrate parallel processing, protocol-embedded role separation, anti-censorship mechanisms, and post-quantum cryptography into a coherent technical evolution path. However, executing the roadmap won’t be effortless—engineering complexity for ePBS, the controversy surrounding framework transactions being sidelined, and the efficiency of large-scale deployment of quantum resistance all pose real challenges. For Ethereum, Strawmap is both an ambitious construction blueprint and a realistic test of replacing every plank on the ship while it is still sailing. Its success or failure will profoundly influence the infrastructure landscape of the entire crypto industry over the next four to five years.