- Ethereum targets a gas limit of 100M+ with ePBS and expanded blob capacity in the 2026 roadmap.
- Native account abstraction and interoperability standards advance under renewed UX focus.
- Ethereum’s security track will prioritize censorship resistance and post-quantum readiness across Layer 1.
The roadmap outlines gas limits, expanding blob capacity, and censorship resistance across the network as the top three priorities.
Scale Track Targets Higher Gas Limits and Blob Expansion
The Ethereum Foundation 2026 protocol priorities update consolidates scaling efforts under a unified Scale track. This track merges previous L1 and blob initiatives to streamline execution and consensus upgrades.
Gas limits are set to rise toward and beyond 100 million. Block-level Access Lists under EIP-7928 will support this increase through improved execution efficiency.
Client benchmarking will guide safe adjustments as capacity expands. The next upgrade, Glamsterdam, is scheduled for the first half of 2026.
It includes enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation through ePBS under EIP-7732. Repricings and additional blob parameter increases are also planned within this upgrade cycle.
Blob scaling remains central to Ethereum’s rollup-centric roadmap. After PeerDAS activation in 2025, validators now sample blob data instead of downloading it entirely.
This shift reduced bandwidth pressure and unlocked higher theoretical throughput. Two Blob Parameter Only forks initiated the path beyond six blobs per block.
Further increases are expected as networking and consensus optimizations continue. The Foundation confirmed these targets in a recent post shared on X.
Development of a zkEVM attester client is progressing from prototype to production readiness. State scaling is also advancing through repricing and history expiry measures.
Over time, Ethereum aims to transition toward binary trees and statelessness.
Improve UX Centers on Native Account Abstraction
The Improve UX track sharpens its focus on native account abstraction and interoperability. The Ethereum Foundation 2026 protocol priorities update positions smart accounts as a protocol-level feature.
EIP-7702, introduced during the Pectra upgrade, enabled externally owned accounts to execute smart contract code temporarily. However, the long-term objective removes reliance on bundlers and relayers.
Proposals such as EIP-7701 and EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, support this direction. Native account abstraction also supports post-quantum readiness.
Interoperability continues to build on the Open Intents Framework. The goal is seamless, trust-minimized cross-L2 interactions.
Faster L1 confirmations and shorter L2 settlement times remain essential components. ERC-7930 and ERC-7828 address interoperable addresses and naming standards. ERC-7888 advances cross-chain broadcasting mechanisms.
These standards are progressing alongside core protocol upgrades. Team leads Barnabé Monnot and Matt Garnett outlined these objectives in community updates on X.
Their posts emphasized coordination across clients to reduce friction for end users.
Harden the L1 Emphasizes Security and Censorship Resistance
The Harden the L1 track introduces a dedicated focus on Ethereum’s core properties. The Ethereum Foundation 2026 protocol priorities update assigns security, censorship resistance, and network resilience to this initiative.
Fredrik Svantes continues leading the Trillion Dollar Security Initiative. Security hardening includes post-execution transaction assertions and trustless RPC development.
Post-quantum readiness remains integrated into execution-layer safeguards. Censorship resistance research is advancing through FOCIL under EIP-7805.
Extensions explore blob-level protections and statelessness through VOPS. The track also promotes measurable censorship resistance metrics.
Thomas Thiery leads protocol resilience research within this track. Efforts address both consensus and execution-layer coordination.
Maintaining neutrality at scale remains central as throughput increases. Parithosh Jayanthi oversees devnets, testnets, and interoperability testing.
Accelerated fork cadence requires robust validation infrastructure. Each upgrade depends on coordinated client readiness before mainnet activation.
Glamsterdam will be followed by Hegotá later in 2026. Planned features include parallel execution, higher gas limits, enshrined PBS, and continued blob scaling.