Ethereum 2026: Glamsterdam and Hegota forks What’s Coming Next

2026: The Year Ethereum Shatters Its Limits

Forget everything you thought you knew about Ethereum's speed and capacity. The whispers in developer corridors and the frantic lines of code merging are all pointing to a single, monumental fact: 2026 is the year Ethereum transforms from a congested highway into a supersonic data network. This isn't just an upgrade; it's a metamorphosis.

Two pivotal forks, Glamsterdam and Heze-Bogota, stand on the calendar like twin pillars of a new era. They will unlock processing powers we've only theorized about and set in motion a chain reaction that will redefine what the world's dominant smart contract platform can do.

Glamsterdam: Where Parallel Worlds Collide

Scheduled for mid-2026, the Glamsterdam fork is the main event. Beneath its clunky technical exterior lie two revolutionary changes that will make your current Ethereum experience feel like dial-up internet.

First, Block Access Lists (EIP-7928). Don't let the bland name fool you. This is the key to "perfect parallel processing.  Imagine Ethereum's current state: a single-file line of transactions, each waiting for the one in front to finish. Now, picture a multi-lane superhighway where thousands of transactions are processed simultaneously. That's what this EIP enables. Block producers will provide a  map  of how transactions interact, allowing network participants to execute them in parallel without conflict. The result? A massive, foundational leap in raw throughput and efficiency.

Second, Enshrined Proposer Builder Separation (ePBS). This move integrates the separation of block building and proposing directly into Ethereum's core protocol. While crucial for decentralization and fighting censorship, its scaling superpower is often overlooked: it buys time. More specifically, it creates the crucial window needed for Zero-Knowledge (ZK) proofs to be generated and validated. This is the gateway to a future where validators can securely verify a proof of execution instead of laboriously re-running every single transaction.

The ZK Wave Begins to Crest

That last point isn't just theoretical. With ePBS in place, Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake predicts a seismic shift: roughly 10% of validators are expected to switch from traditional execution to ZK-proof verification. This is the foot in the door for  ZK-verifying Ethereum,  a long-term vision where the network's security scales almost infinitely. Once this beachhead is established, the brakes come off the gas limit.

The Great Unleashing: Gas Limits & Data Blobs Soar

The gas limit, long a frustrating bottleneck for users, is set for historic increases. The conservative whispers suggest a jump to 100 million. More audacious voices, like Ethereum Foundation co-director Tomasz Stańczak, predict a doubling to 200 million after ePBS, with 300 million possible by year's end. Vitalik Buterin hints at a more targeted, intelligent scaling—perhaps a 5x increase for certain operations, making the network vastly more efficient.

Meanwhile, for Layer 2s, the sky's the limit. The target for data blobs—the fuel for rollups—could skyrocket from 6 to 72 or more per block. This single change empowers L2s like Optimism, Arbitrum, and ZKsync to process hundreds of thousands of transactions per second, seamlessly. Innovations like ZKsync's Atlas upgrade mean users can keep assets securely on Mainnet while trading at L2 speeds, erasing the friction of yesterday.

Heze-Bogota: Fortifying the Foundation

Following Glamsterdam's raw power-up, the year-end Heze-Bogota fork turns its gaze to Ethereum's soul: censorship resistance. The likely headline feature, Fork-Choice Inclusion Lists (FOCIL), is a powerful tool. It empowers a coalition of honest validators to guarantee that specific, lawful transactions are included in a block. In a world of increasing regulatory scrutiny, this is a bold statement: Ethereum's ledger remains neutral and immutable.

The Horizon Comes Into View

By December 2026, the landscape will be unrecognizable. Ethereum L1, supercharged by parallel processing and a rising tide of ZK validation, will be barreling toward 10,000 transactions per second. A seamless Ethereum Interoperability Layer  will make moving between L2s as simple as clicking a link. Privacy will move from niche to normal. The network won't just be faster; it will be smarter, more resilient, and more user-centric.

This is the story of 2026. It's the year the blueprint becomes the building. The year Ethereum stops asking "can we scale?" and starts showing the world how it's done. The train is leaving the station. All aboard.

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