Ethereum sets Hegota as its next upgrade and moves forward on the 2026 roadmap.
- Ethereum maintains a six-month update schedule.
- Hegota unites layers of execution and consensus.
- Roadmap prioritizes scalability and state reduction.
Ethereum's core developers have officially named the update that will succeed the Glamsterdam hard fork. Called Hegota, the next phase of development helps to more clearly structure the network's technical roadmap for 2026, maintaining the commitment to regular and predictable release cycles.
The name Hegota combines two conventions already known to the community. The "Bogota" part represents the execution layer, following the tradition of honoring cities that host Devcon editions, while "Heze" refers to the consensus layer, inspired by celebrity names. Despite the name being defined, Hegota's main EIP has not yet been chosen, a decision that should only occur in February, as the update remains in its initial stage.
The choice was confirmed during the last ACDE's annual meeting, which brings together developers responsible for implementing the protocol. The meetings will resume in January, when the focus will return to the final scope of Glamsterdam, planned as the first Ethereum upgrade in 2026.
This announcement comes at a time of greater stability in the network's development process. With Pectra and Fusaka scheduled for 2025, Ethereum has consolidated a semi-annual update schedule, a strategy that seeks to make changes more gradual, reduce risks, and avoid major overhauls concentrated in a single hard fork.
Within this timeline, Glamsterdam is expected to be activated in the first half of 2026, followed by Hegota later that year. Although the final content of Hegota is not yet defined, there is a possibility of incorporating postponed proposals from Glamsterdam and items aligned with the long-term roadmap.
Among the most frequently mentioned topics in the discussions are Verkle Trees, considered an important step towards enabling fully stateless clients. Also appearing in the debate are mechanisms for state expiration and history, as well as additional optimizations at the execution layer—areas that gained attention following warnings about the continuous growth of network state.
Meanwhile, Glamsterdam continues to focus on tier 1 efficiency and the decentralization of block construction. Proposals such as the separation between proposer and builder, adjustments to gas costs, and improvements in access to the state remain under review. More complex changes, requiring longer evaluation periods, may be transferred to the scope of Hegota.
The early naming decision reinforces Ethereum's long-term vision, which progresses through phases such as The Surge, The Verge, The Purge, and The Splurge, keeping technical evolution aligned with the growth in the use of rollups and the expansion of network participation.
