Ethereum's 'Hegota' Upgrade Scheduled for Late 2026 to Accelerate Development Roadmap
Ethereum developers have agreed on the name 'Hegota' and a rough timeline for their 2026 network upgrade, which will follow the earlier 'Glamsterdam' upgrade. Glamsterdam is expected to launch in the first half of 2026, while Hegota is slated for the second half, reflecting a faster upgrade cadence compared to the previous annual cycle.
This shift to more frequent and smaller upgrades comes in response to criticism from parts of the Ethereum community regarding development delays amidst network growth. The full scope of the Glamsterdam upgrade will be finalized at an early January meeting, and no major Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) for Hegota are expected until at least February.
Potential features for Hegota include the integration of Verkle Trees, a data-structure improvement aimed at reducing hardware requirements for node operators. Any deferred work from the Glamsterdam upgrade that is not included in its release could be carried over to Hegota.
The name 'Hegota' derives from combining 'Bogota' (associated with the execution layer) and 'Heze' (associated with the consensus layer), continuing Ethereum's tradition of naming upgrades after Devcon host cities paired with star names. According to an Ethereum Foundation blog post, Hegota is confirmed as the next upgrade following Glamsterdam.
