Ethereum Foundation Outlines 2026 Priorities

- The "Glamsterdam" upgrade's core features are EIP-7732, which enshrines Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) to further decentralize block production, and EIP-7928, which introduces block-level access lists to enable parallel processing of transactions. - The push for privacy is a direct response to Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) strategies; in a recent 30-day period, MEV bots extracted nearly $24 million in profit on Ethereum through sandwich attacks and other methods. - Proposed solutions to combat MEV extraction include the development of encrypted mempools, stealth addresses (ERC-5564), and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) that would encrypt transaction data and contract states while in use. - Data "blobs" were introduced via EIP-4844 in the March 2024 Dencun upgrade to provide a separate, cheaper fee market for Layer 2 data, which is pruned from nodes after approximately 18 days to reduce long-term storage demands. - The user experience improvements focus on making smart contract wallets the default through native account abstraction, building on past upgrades like EIP-7702 to eliminate the need for bundlers and relayers. - In 2025, the Ethereum Foundation reorganized its protocol development around three strategic initiatives: "Scale L1," "Scale Blobs," and "Improve UX," which have now evolved into the 2026 tracks of "Scale," "Improve UX," and "Harden the L1." - Beyond Glamsterdam, another major network upgrade codenamed "Hegotá" is planned for later in 2026, which is expected to tackle more complex proposals such as the introduction of Verkle Trees to make state access more efficient. - While MEV bots can consume over 50% of gas on some L2s, their activity is economically inefficient for the networks, as they often account for less than 10-25% of the total gas fees paid.