Ethereum Core Development Progress: Navigating the Complexities of the Glamsterdam and Hegotá Upgrades

Ethereum’s protocol evolution is currently navigating a period of intensive research and implementation as core developers manage the technical intricacies of two major upcoming upgrades: Glamsterdam and Hegotá. Following the momentum generated by the recent Fusaka and Pectra forks, the Ethereum community has turned its attention to a series of high-stakes Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) designed to enhance consensus stability, execution efficiency, and censorship resistance. While the pace of Glamsterdam has been characterized by developers as "slow but steady," the complexity of its cornerstone feature—enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS)—has emerged as a significant technical hurdle. Meanwhile, the subsequent upgrade, Hegotá, has begun to take shape with the selection of its primary consensus feature and a commitment to refining the network’s approach to Account Abstraction.

The Technical Landscape of Glamsterdam

The Glamsterdam upgrade, tracked under EIP-7773, represents a critical step in Ethereum’s transition toward a more robust and decentralized block production mechanism. The development process follows a structured hierarchy where features are categorized as either "Scheduled for Inclusion" (SFI) or "Considered for Inclusion" (CFI). SFI features are those with near-certainty of being included in the final mainnet fork, while CFI features remain subject to implementation progress and compatibility tests.

The defining feature of Glamsterdam is EIP-7732, known as enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS). This proposal seeks to move the existing Proposer-Builder Separation—currently handled outside the protocol via third-party software like MEV-Boost—directly into the Ethereum consensus layer. By enshrining this process, the protocol gains the ability to handle disagreements or failures between proposers and builders natively. However, this transition has proven to be more difficult than initially projected. Implementing ePBS requires every layer of the Ethereum stack to reason about "partial blocks" and coordinate between two distinct parties within a single consensus slot. This change touches nearly every component of the protocol, necessitating a complete rethinking of how the network handles block validation and propagation.

On the execution layer, Glamsterdam is set to introduce Block-level Access Lists (BALs) under EIP-7928. This proposal represents a fundamental shift in how the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) handles gas and state access. By providing a more structured way to access state, BALs aim to improve the efficiency of transaction processing and pave the way for future scaling solutions. Alongside these structural changes, the upgrade includes a bundle of gas repricings (EIP-8007). These repricings are designed to align the cost of EVM operations more closely with their actual computational and storage burdens, effectively "cleaning up" the gas schedule to support a safer increase in the network’s overall gas limit.

Ecosystem developers have also successfully advocated for the inclusion of EIP-7954, which proposes an increase to the maximum contract size. As decentralized applications (dApps) grow in complexity, the current limits have become a bottleneck for developers building sophisticated smart contracts. The prioritization of EIP-7954 reflects a responsive governance model that listens to the needs of the broader developer ecosystem.

Hegotá and the Future of Censorship Resistance

As Glamsterdam moves through the devnet phase, the roadmap for the following upgrade, Hegotá, is already being established. The headline feature for Hegotá’s consensus layer is EIP-7805, also known as FOCIL (Fork-choice Enforced Inclusion Lists). FOCIL is a major advancement in Ethereum’s censorship resistance strategy. It allows proposers to create a list of transactions that must be included in a block, preventing builders from arbitrarily excluding specific transactions to extract maximum extractable value (MEV) or comply with external pressures.

The selection of FOCIL marks a clear commitment by the Ethereum core developers to maintain the network’s neutrality. While the consensus layer has reached a decision on its primary feature, the execution layer has seen more contentious debates, particularly regarding Account Abstraction (AA). The proposal known as EIP-8141 (Frame transactions) was initially considered a potential headliner for Hegotá. However, a lack of consensus among client developers regarding specific implementation details led to its status being downgraded to CFI.

Despite this shift, the developer community remains committed to working on a unified Account Abstraction proposal that can garner broader support. The goal is to create a standard that simplifies the user experience by allowing smart contract wallets to function more like traditional externally owned accounts (EOAs), while also integrating features like quantum resistance. Quantum resistance has become an increasing point of interest, as developers look to future-proof the network against potential threats from quantum computing, though no standalone proposal has yet been finalized for Hegotá.

Chronology of Development and Recent Milestones

The current development cycle has been defined by a series of All Core Developer (ACD) calls, which serve as the primary forum for technical decision-making. From late January to early April, developers have focused on stabilizing devnets and refining the scope of upcoming forks.

• January 21st – February 15th: Developers focused on the initial ePBS devnets, identifying critical bugs in the coordination between consensus and execution clients.
• February 16th – March 10th: Testing for Block-level Access Lists (BALs) began in earnest. Discussions intensified regarding the gas repricing bundle (EIP-8007) and its impact on existing dApps.
• March 11th – March 30th: The debate over Account Abstraction reached its peak. While EIP-8141 was moved to CFI, developers agreed to a "placeholder commitment" to keep AA on the roadmap for Hegotá.
• April 9th: The official window for proposing non-headlining features for Hegotá opened. This allows the broader community to submit EIPs for inclusion in the "Proposed for Inclusion" section of the fork’s meta-EIP.

The next major milestone is the launch of the first generalized Glamsterdam devnet. This devnet will move beyond testing individual features like ePBS in isolation and instead test the full suite of scheduled upgrades in a simulated environment. Once this devnet achieves stability, developers will proceed to cut official client releases and begin the security review process.

Scaling and the Gas Limit Research

Parallel to the specific upgrade cycles, Ethereum developers are conducting ongoing research into the network’s gas limit. The gas limit determines the maximum amount of computational work that can be included in a single block, directly impacting the network’s throughput.

The current baseline target for the gas limit is 60 million (60M). However, testing on specialized devnets is exploring much higher limits to understand the potential for future scaling. Developers are analyzing how higher limits affect block propagation times, node storage requirements, and the risk of chain splits. Much of the repricing work in Glamsterdam is a prerequisite for safely raising the gas limit; by ensuring that "cheap" but computationally expensive operations are correctly priced, the network can handle a higher volume of transactions without compromising decentralization.

Process Improvements and Developer Resources

To streamline the path from proposal to implementation, the Ethereum Protocol Support team has introduced the "EIP Champion’s Handbook." This resource is designed to help EIP authors navigate the complex governance and technical review process. Championing a feature requires not only technical excellence but also the ability to build consensus among diverse stakeholders, including client developers, researchers, and the broader community.

The introduction of the "Strawmap"—an unofficial but highly influential guideline for feature choices—has also played a role in aligning priorities. By providing a visual representation of the network’s long-term goals, the Strawmap helps developers decide which EIPs should be prioritized in each fork, reducing the friction that often accompanies the selection process.

Analysis of Broader Implications

The slow progress of Glamsterdam serves as a reminder of the immense technical debt and complexity involved in upgrading a live, multi-billion-dollar network. While some in the community expressed hope for a rapid succession of forks following Pectra, the reality of implementing enshrined PBS has forced a more cautious approach. This caution, however, is generally viewed as a sign of the network’s maturity.

The shift toward ePBS and FOCIL suggests that Ethereum is prioritizing long-term decentralization and censorship resistance over short-term feature velocity. By bringing block production and inclusion lists into the core protocol, Ethereum reduces its reliance on external middleware and minimizes the influence of centralized actors in the MEV ecosystem.

For users, the implications of these upgrades will likely manifest as a more secure and predictable network. The gas repricings and potential gas limit increases aim to keep transaction costs manageable as the network grows. For developers, the increase in contract size and the progress toward Account Abstraction promise a more flexible environment for building the next generation of decentralized applications.

While Glamsterdam is unlikely to see a mainnet launch in the second quarter of the year, the focused scope of Hegotá could allow for a faster follow-up fork. The commitment to Account Abstraction, even as a non-headliner, ensures that Ethereum remains competitive in the race to provide a user-friendly blockchain experience. As the generalized devnets for Glamsterdam go live, the coming months will be pivotal in determining the final timeline for these transformative upgrades.