Weekly Ethereum Research Report (2026-02-14 ~ 2026-02-20)
Key 3-Line Summary
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FOCIL (EIP-7805) was confirmed as Hegota Scheduled at ACDC #175 (2/19).
With unanimous agreement from all 5 CL client teams, this milestone broke the 11-day EIP status freeze and effectively defined Hegota as the "censorship resistance upgrade." Vitalik stated on the same day: "FOCIL is already a significant hardening of Ethereum."
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EF published Protocol Priorities 2026, reorganizing into "Scale + Improve UX + Harden the L1" tracks.
The new "Harden the L1" track is the key addition, making FOCIL, post-quantum security, and censorship resistance explicit priorities. Simultaneously, Encrypt The Mempool Session 0 was held, initiating the formalization of UEEM (EIP-8105) and LUCID.
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Glamsterdam gas repricing transitioned from theory to practice.
Repricings #2 confirmed calldata pricing at 64/64, adopted subcall reservoir Option 1, and launched GasRepricing.com for exchange/dApp outreach. While DevNet-3 was postponed to 3/4, infrastructure testing continues with bal-devnet-2 stability recovery and Fusaka blob-devnet-0 launch.
1. Roadmap/Upgrade Highlights
Glamsterdam (Mid-2026 Target)
| Item | Status | This Week's Changes |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7732 (ePBS) | Scheduled | ePBS DevNet-0: targeting 2-3 CL clients by end of Feb. Lighthouse Kurtosis config confirmed |
| EIP-7928 (BALs) | Scheduled | Max items cap set — BAL size constraints for network load management. DOS protection PR 11234 |
| EIP-7975 (eth/70) | Considered (New) | Added to Considered on 2/16. Partial block receipt lists for large receipt sync |
| EIP-8159 (eth/71) | Considered (New) | Added to Considered on 2/16. BAL P2P exchange protocol — networking complement for BALs |
| EIP-8037 (State Creation Gas) | Considered | Confirmed for DevNet-3. Subcall reservoir Option 1 adopted at Repricings #2 |
| EIP-7976 (Calldata Floor) | Considered | Calldata pricing confirmed at 64 gas/byte (zero + non-zero equal). Worst-case block: 3.5MB → 2MB |
| EIP-2780 (Intrinsic Tx Gas) | Considered | Draft specs/tests ready. Cold EOA access reduced to 500 gas |
| Gas Repricing Bundle | Considered (20 total) | Repricings #2 completed. GasRepricing.com launched, Coinbase/Kraken outreach begun |
Hegota (Post-Glamsterdam)
| Item | Status | This Week's Changes |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | Scheduled (Confirmed!) | Upgraded from Considered → Scheduled at ACDC #175. All 5 CL clients agreed. 2D PeerDAS marked as DFI |
| EIP-8105 (UEEM) | Proposed | Encrypt The Mempool #0 held (2/18). 2-slot execution design discussed. Envelope signer reference added |
| LUCID | EIP in progress | Sealed tx gas limit set to 1/8 of block at ETM #0. EIP to be published within days |
| Quick Slots | Proposal stage | Maintained as non-headliner track |
Fusaka (Stable Operation)
- blob-devnet-0 live: 20 nodes, ~90% participation, Lighthouse/Prism ready, Teku/Nimbus in progress
- Testing under adverse network conditions: 80ms latency, MEV nodes limited to 2 peers
Protocol Priorities 2026 (New)
| Track | 2025 | 2026 | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | Scale L1 + Scale Blobs | Merged — Gas limit 100M+ target | Ansgar Dietrichs, Marius, Raul |
| Improve UX | Improve UX | Maintained, AA + interoperability focus | (TBC) |
| Harden the L1 | (None) | New — FOCIL, PQ, censorship resistance | Fredrik, Parithosh, Thomas |
2. EIP Status Changes (Forkcast Mon 2/14 vs Fri 2/20)
Inclusion Stage Changes Summary
| Change | EIP | Upgrade | Previous | Current | Decision Call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upgrade | EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | Hegota | Considered | Scheduled | ACDC #175 (2/19) |
| Added | EIP-7975 (eth/70) | Glamsterdam | (None) | Considered | ACDE #230 (2/12) |
| Added | EIP-8159 (eth/71) | Glamsterdam | (None) | Considered | ACDE #230 (2/12) |
Status by Upgrade (as of 2/20)
| Upgrade | Scheduled | Considered | Included | Declined | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glamsterdam | 2 (7732, 7928) | 20 (+2) | - | 33 | 4 |
| Hegota | 1 (7805) (+1) | 0 (-1) | - | - | - |
| Fusaka | - | - | 13 | - | - |
Key Takeaway: After 11 days of no changes (2/8–2/19), the FOCIL Scheduled confirmation was a landmark decision. Two new networking protocol EIPs (eth/70, eth/71) were added to Glamsterdam Considered, formalizing the networking layer upgrade.
3. Validator/Infrastructure Key Issues
Direct Validator Impact
| Priority | Item | Details | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent | FOCIL Scheduled Confirmed | CL client implementation begins. Validators must create local inclusion lists. P2P subnet participation required | Hegota target |
| Urgent | ePBS DevNet-0 | Targeting 2-3 CL clients by end of Feb. Proposer-Builder separation infra testing begins | End of Feb |
| Medium | ETM Mempool Encryption | If UEEM/LUCID included in Hegota, validators must fundamentally revise MEV strategies | Hegota |
| Medium | Gas Repricing | Calldata 64/64, state creation gas increase → block revenue composition changes | Glamsterdam |
| Long-term | Post-Quantum Transition | 200K gas EVM verification demonstrated at PQTS #002. Long-term BLS signature replacement | 2027+ |
Infrastructure Monitoring Status
| Item | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| bal-devnet-2 | Stability recovered | Weekend bug rolled back, 100% participation restored |
| bal-devnet-3 | Postponed to 3/4 | EIP-8037 test failure concerns, prep time needed |
| ePBS-devnet-0 | In progress | 2/18 target unrealistic → readjusted to end of Feb |
| Fusaka blob-devnet-0 | Live | 20 nodes, ~90% participation |
| perf-devnet-2 | Dead | All EL clients down, CL chain relaunch needed |
| JSON-RPC Versioning | Exploration | Endpoint-level versioning proposal, community feedback requested |
4. Protocol Call Key Decisions
7 protocol calls this week:
| Date | Call | Key Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2/16 (Mon) | ACDT #070 | DevNet-3 → postponed to 3/4, Fusaka blob-devnet-0 launched |
| 2/17 (Tue) | TLI #003 | ZKP architecture draft presented, 40KB proof size |
| 2/18 (Wed) | Repricings #002 | Calldata 64/64 confirmed, subcall reservoir Option 1 adopted |
| 2/18 (Wed) | ETM #000 | New series! UEEM 2-slot design, LUCID 1/8 gas limit |
| 2/18 (Wed) | PQTS #002 | Hash-based signatures 3KB, EVM 200K gas verification demo |
| 2/18 (Wed) | AWD #038 | ERC-7730 V2, Clear Signing live demo |
| 2/19 (Thu) | ACDC #175 | FOCIL Hegota Scheduled confirmed! All 5 CL teams agreed |
Key Technical Decisions
Censorship Resistance 3-Layer Architecture Emerging:
| Layer | Mechanism | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Fork-choice | FOCIL (EIP-7805) | Hegota Scheduled |
| Mempool | UEEM (EIP-8105) + LUCID | Hegota Proposed |
| Proposer | ePBS (EIP-7732) | Glamsterdam Scheduled |
Post-Quantum Practicality Verified:
- Hash-based signature Sphincs+: 2^64 → 2^20~2^40 reduction yields ~3KB
- Shrinks scheme: first signature ~300 bytes (smallest possible PQ signature)
- Solidity implementation: C2 scheme <200K gas per verification
5. Next Week Key Schedule
| Date | Event | Key Agenda |
|---|---|---|
| 2/23 (Mon) | ACDT #071 | blob-devnet-0, bal-devnet-3, ePBS-devnet-0, EIP-8037 |
| 2/24 (Tue) | EIP Editing #90 | EIP process updates |
| 2/25 (Tue) | PQ Interop #28 | PQ devnet-1/2/3, tooling, leanVM |
| 2/26 (Wed) | ACDE #231 | Hegota EL headliner final decision! EIP-8105 (UEEM) inclusion |
| 3/3 (Tue) | FCR #4 | Fast Confirmation Rule client implementation status |
| 3/4 (Tue) | bal-devnet-3 | Glamsterdam DevNet-3 launch (rescheduled target) |
Next Week's Top Watch: ACDE #231 on 2/26 will finalize the Hegota EL headliner. If UEEM (EIP-8105) is upgraded to Scheduled, Hegota becomes a "FOCIL + Encrypted Mempool" censorship resistance dual upgrade.
Weekly Key Metrics
| Metric | Last Week (2/13) | This Week (2/20) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glamsterdam Scheduled | 2 | 2 | - |
| Glamsterdam Considered | 18 | 20 | +2 (eth/70, eth/71) |
| Hegota Scheduled | 0 | 1 | +1 (FOCIL!) |
| Hegota Proposed | 1 | 1 | - |
| Fusaka Included | 13 | 13 | - |
| Weekly Protocol Calls | 6 | 7 | +1 (ETM new series) |
| Forkcast Status Changes | 0 | 3 | FOCIL Scheduled + eth/70,71 added |
Written by: @r2jamong
Data Sources: ethereum/pm, ethereum/forkcast, Ethereum Magicians, ethresear.ch