Ethereum Enters Its Next Upgrade Phase
Ethereum's protocol roadmap is entering another important stage as developers narrow the scope of the upcoming Hegotá upgrade while Glamsterdam moves through public testing.
The Ethereum Foundation said on September 9 that its Protocol cluster will host a community AMA on September 16, with developers expected to discuss Glamsterdam testing, Hegotá's scope and the protocol's longer-term priorities.
The update follows the Foundation's September 7 assessment of 62 EIPs proposed for Hegotá, giving the Ethereum community its clearest picture yet of which proposals are gaining priority.
Rather than attempting to include every proposal, developers are using a tiered process to determine which changes best align with Ethereum's long-term goals.
Ethereum Reviews 62 EIPs for Hegotá
The Ethereum Foundation's Protocol cluster published its first unified tier list covering the 62 EIPs proposed for Hegotá.
The evaluation brought together feedback from roughly 60 researchers and engineers across Ethereum's protocol teams and contributors.
The results show a deliberately selective approach.
Of the 62 proposals:
2 are classified as must-ship
15 are expected to ship
8 are B-tier proposals with requirements for inclusion
7 are C-tier proposals below the current line
28 proposals were declined
2 remain TBD, pending additional mainnet evidence
The Foundation emphasized that deciding what not to include is an important part of keeping Ethereum's upgrades focused and manageable.
FOCIL Remains a Major Hegotá Focus
One of the most closely watched areas is FOCIL, or Fork-Choice enforced Inclusion Lists.
The proposal is designed to strengthen Ethereum's censorship resistance by giving validators additional mechanisms to ensure transactions selected for inclusion are not improperly excluded.
Its potential inclusion reflects Ethereum's continuing focus on network neutrality, resilience and decentralized block production.
For Hegotá, the broader goal is not simply to add more features but to prioritize changes that strengthen Ethereum's long-term protocol architecture.
Glamsterdam Moves Into Public Testing
While Hegotá is still being narrowed down, its predecessor, Glamsterdam, has already entered public testing.
The Ethereum Foundation launched the Platåberget testnet as Glamsterdam's early public testing environment. The network is designed to run for several months, giving developers and infrastructure operators time to identify compatibility issues before the upgrade reaches Ethereum's longer-running Sepolia and Hoodi testnets.
The Glamsterdam fork on Platåberget was scheduled for August 20, allowing validators, developers and infrastructure providers to test the upgrade in a public environment.
Ethereum.org currently lists Glamsterdam as being in devnet testing, with the next major milestone being the Sepolia fork scheduled for October 6, 2026. Mainnet activation is currently expected in Q4 2026, although no final mainnet date has been confirmed.
Glamsterdam Brings Major Protocol Changes
Glamsterdam combines changes to Ethereum's execution and consensus layers.
One of its most important developments is enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS), which moves proposer-builder separation further into Ethereum's core protocol architecture.
The upgrade also introduces Block-Level Access Lists (BALs) and significant gas repricing changes.
These changes are intended to improve Ethereum's execution architecture and create a stronger foundation for future scaling.
Because the modifications affect both consensus infrastructure and application tooling, extensive testing is particularly important.
Developers Must Prepare for Breaking Changes
The Ethereum Foundation has already warned that Glamsterdam introduces breaking changes for some applications and infrastructure.
Tools that rely on a hardcoded maximum gas limit—including certain wallets, indexers and gas-estimation systems—will need to be updated.
Ethereum developers have also been testing new gas-pricing rules through Platåberget.
The Foundation says EIP-8037 changes the cost of creating new state, while EIP-8038 adjusts the cost of accessing existing state. The changes are designed to better align gas costs with the computational work required by different operations.
For application developers, that means assumptions around fixed gas costs and gas estimation may need to be revisited before Glamsterdam reaches mainnet.
Ethereum Is Taking a More Selective Upgrade Strategy
The Hegotá process highlights a broader change in how Ethereum approaches major protocol upgrades.
Instead of treating each upgrade as a collection of independent proposals, the Protocol cluster is evaluating EIPs against shared priorities extending through 2029.
Those priorities include Ethereum's long-term resilience, scalability, security and protocol development strategy.
This could help prevent major upgrades from becoming overloaded with too many simultaneous changes.
A more selective process may also give developers additional time to test the features that make it into each fork.
What Hegotá Could Mean for Ethereum
Hegotá remains further out on the roadmap than Glamsterdam, meaning many details can still change.
The current tier list nevertheless provides an early indication of where Ethereum's protocol developers see the highest-value improvements.
The fact that 28 proposals have already been declined demonstrates that developers are prioritizing a focused upgrade rather than attempting to ship every technically interesting proposal.
That could reduce implementation complexity and allow the Ethereum ecosystem to concentrate testing resources on the changes that ultimately make the cut.
What It Means for ETH
Ethereum's protocol development provides a longer-term fundamental narrative for ETH beyond short-term price movements.
Network upgrades that improve execution, scaling, censorship resistance and infrastructure efficiency can strengthen Ethereum's position as a settlement layer for DeFi, Layer 2 networks and other onchain applications.
At the same time, successful protocol upgrades do not automatically translate into immediate price appreciation.
ETH remains influenced by broader factors including liquidity conditions, ETF flows, macroeconomic policy and activity across the Ethereum ecosystem.
The importance of Glamsterdam and Hegotá is therefore primarily structural: they determine how Ethereum's underlying network evolves for future demand.
Ethereum's Next Upgrade Cycle Takes Shape
The development sequence is becoming increasingly clear.
Glamsterdam is currently moving through public testing, while Hegotá is being narrowed toward the proposals that Ethereum developers consider most important.
The Platåberget testnet gives the community an opportunity to identify compatibility issues before Glamsterdam moves to longer-running testnets. Ethereum.org currently identifies the Sepolia fork as the next major Glamsterdam milestone.
Meanwhile, the Hegotá tier list gives developers and the community a clearer understanding of which proposals are likely to receive priority.
Conclusion
Ethereum is entering another important phase of protocol development.
Glamsterdam is now in public testing, while 62 EIPs are being evaluated and narrowed for Hegotá. The Ethereum Foundation's latest tier list shows that developers are taking a selective approach, with only a small portion of the proposals currently receiving the highest priority.
Glamsterdam's testing focuses on major changes including ePBS, Block-Level Access Lists and gas repricing, while Hegotá is being shaped around Ethereum's longer-term priorities.
For ETH, the significance extends beyond the next hard fork. Ethereum is continuing to build toward a more scalable, resilient and efficient settlement network capable of supporting the next generation of onchain applications.
