The nonprofit organization Ethereum Foundation (EF) has released an updated roadmap for the protocol's development through 2026. The foundation has identified three main areas of focus: scaling, improving user experience (UX), and protecting the base layer.

Protocol Priorities Update for 2026https://t.co/gW41FhqA4q

— Ethereum Foundation (@ethereumfndn) February 18, 2026

“2025 was one of the most productive years for Ethereum. We successfully executed two major upgrades and made progress across all key areas. […] Looking ahead, we realized that to continue meeting community demands, our goals must evolve,” noted EF.

Scaling

In this area, developers will focus on increasing L1 throughput and enhancing data availability. Key objectives include:

  • Gradual increase of gas limits to 100 million and beyond. This will be achieved through the implementation of block-level access lists (EIP-7928) and regular client performance testing;
  • Preparation for the Glamsterdam hard fork. This update will introduce an embedded PBS mechanism (ePBS, EIP-7732), revise transaction costs, and increase limits for BLOB objects;
  • Launch of a validator client based on zkEVM. This tool is expected to be fully operational on the mainnet;
  • Storage optimization. Developers will focus on removing outdated data and transitioning to binary trees (statelessness architecture).

User Experience

The focus will shift to native account abstraction and cross-network interactions (interoperability).

According to developers, the previously adopted EIP-7702 was a significant milestone, but the ultimate goal is to make smart contract wallets a standard that operates without intermediaries and unnecessary gas costs.

The next proposals — EIP-7701 and EIP-8141 — aim to embed smart account logic directly into the protocol. This will also lay the groundwork for post-quantum security: native abstraction will eventually allow for the phasing out of outdated ECDSA authentication.

In the area of interoperability, development of the Open Intents Framework will continue for seamless interactions between L2.

Base Layer

A new focus area aims to preserve Ethereum's fundamental properties during scaling. Work will be conducted in three directions:

  • Security: preparation for the post-quantum era and protection at the execution level;
  • Censorship resistance: implementation of FOCIL (EIP-7805), protection of BLOB, and creation of metrics to assess the ecosystem's censorship resistance;
  • Network testing and stability: support for testnets for safe deployment of updates and ensuring client compatibility during accelerated hard fork cycles.

The next major update for Ethereum will be Glamsterdam, scheduled for the first half of this year. Hegota is expected later.

It is worth noting that there have been changes in leadership at EF, with Tomas Stanczak stepping down as executive director.