Weekly Ethereum Research Report (2026-02-21 ~ 2026-02-27)
Top 3 Takeaways
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Justin Drake / EF Protocol team launched strawmap.org, presenting 7 forks × 6-month cadence × 5 North Stars through 2029.
This is the first official document visualizing "when and in what order" for the Ethereum roadmap. Vitalik immediately called it "a very important document." The 5 North Stars — Fast L1 (1s slots), Gigagas L1 (100M gas/sec), Teragas L2 (1GB/sec DA), Post-Quantum L1, and Private L1 — establish a new coordinate system for validator operations and protocol direction.
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The EF initiated Treasury staking of 70,000 ETH, publicly disclosing a reference architecture for institutional-grade validator operations.
The tech stack includes Dirk+Vouch (distributed signing), MaxEB 2,048 ETH (~35 signing keys), Type 2 withdrawals, minority clients, multi-jurisdiction distribution, and local block building (no MEV-Boost) — a statement prioritizing neutrality and censorship resistance over MEV revenue maximization.
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At ACDE #231 (2/26), EIP-8141 Frame Transaction gained 3:1 client support as the Hegota EL headliner.
Geth, Erigon, and Nimbus EL support it, with only Besu preferring LUCID. Hegota now takes shape as CL FOCIL (EIP-7805) + EL Frame Transaction (EIP-8141) — a "censorship resistance + native AA + PQ off-ramp" fork.
1. Roadmap / Upgrade Highlights
Strawmap — Ethereum's First Long-Term Timeline (New)
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fork count | 7 (Hegota→Glamsterdam→I→J→K→L→M*) |
| Cadence | 6-month intervals |
| Headliner rule | 1 CL + 1 EL headliner per fork |
| 5 North Stars | Fast L1 (1s slots), Gigagas L1 (100M gas/sec), Teragas L2 (1GB/sec DA), Post-Quantum L1, Private L1 |
| Vitalik's take | Prefers progressive slot reduction (12s→8s→4s→2s→1s); classified 4 quantum-vulnerable areas (BLS/KZG/ECDSA/AA) |
| Identity | "accelerationist coordination tool" — speed with coordination |
Glamsterdam (Stable)
| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7732 (ePBS) | Scheduled | No change. epbs-devnet-0 review at ACDT #72 (3/2) |
| EIP-7928 (BALs) | Scheduled | BAL #13: Partial statefulness proposal emerged. 4 PRs in progress |
| EIP-8024 (SWAPN/DUPN/EXCHANGE) | Considered | 2 spec commits added |
| EIP-8037 (State Creation Gas) | Considered | Elasticity research published (theoretical 5x vs actual 1.3x-1.4x throughput). Deferred to devnet-4 |
| Gas repricing overall | 20 Considered | 8 consecutive days with no Forkcast changes |
Hegota (Key Changes)
| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | Scheduled | SFI (Spec Freeze for Implementation) completed at FOCIL Breakout #29. Client implementation phase begins |
| EIP-8141 (Frame Transaction) | (Not on Forkcast, 3:1 support) | 3 clients support at ACDE #231. Geth, Erigon, Nimbus EL in favor; Besu prefers LUCID. Awaiting Forkcast registration |
| EIP-8105 (UEEM) | Withdrawn | Withdrawn from Hegota on 2/23. Transitioning to independent track via Encrypt The Mempool Breakout #1 (3/4) |
| LUCID | TBD | Erigon explicitly proposed deferral to "I* fork (post-Hegota)" |
Fusaka (Stable)
- blob-devnet-0 continues running
- Comprehensive review scheduled at ACDT #72 (3/2)
EF Organizational Changes
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| DeFi Coordination Team (new) | Charlie St. Louis (ex-DELV) + ivangbi (Gearbox) join. 6 commitments: Builder Relations, Security, Decentralization, Privacy, Standards, Research |
| Protocol Priorities Series | "Scale + Improve UX + Harden the L1" — deep-dive content series announced. Episode 1 "Coming Soon" |
| Treasury 70K ETH Staking | First deposit of 2,016 ETH completed. ~$3.6M annual revenue estimated at CESR 2.808% |
2. EIP Status Changes (Forkcast: 2/20 Fri vs 2/27 Fri)
Upgrade Inclusion Status Changes
| Change | EIP | Upgrade | Previous | Current | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Withdrawn | EIP-8105 (UEEM) | Hegota | Proposed | Withdrawn | Voluntary withdrawal on 2/23. ETM Breakout continues independently |
| De facto confirmed | EIP-8141 (Frame Transaction) | Hegota | (Unregistered) | 3:1 client support | ACDE #231. Awaiting Forkcast registration |
Status by Upgrade (as of 2/27)
| Upgrade | Scheduled | Considered | Included | Declined | Withdrawn |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glamsterdam | 2 (7732, 7928) | 20 | - | 33 | 4 |
| Hegota | 1 (7805) | 0 | - | - | 1 (8105) (+1) |
| Fusaka | - | - | 13 | - | - |
Key change: While the only official Forkcast change is EIP-8105 Withdrawn, ACDE #231 produced a de facto decision on EIP-8141 Frame Transaction as Hegota EL headliner with 3:1 client support. Formal Forkcast registration pending. Glamsterdam's 20 Considered EIPs remain unchanged for 8 consecutive days.
3. Validator / Infrastructure Key Issues
Direct Validator Impact
| Priority | Item | Detail | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent | EF Treasury 70K ETH Staking | Dirk+Vouch, MaxEB 2,048 ETH (~35 signing keys), Type 2 withdrawals, local building. Institutional validator reference architecture | Ongoing |
| Urgent | FOCIL SFI Complete | Spec freeze at Breakout #29. CL client implementation begins. devnet-0 timeline under discussion | Hegota |
| Urgent | EIP-8141 Frame Transaction | Hegota EL headliner with 3:1 support. New tx type (0x06), native AA, PQ off-ramp | Hegota |
| Medium | Lido DVT Cluster Entry | Nethermind+Sigma Prime+ChainSafe+Develp apply as Obol Charon-based DVT cluster for stVaults. Unprecedented structure: client teams becoming operators directly | Q1 2026 |
| Medium | Lido V3 x Linea Yield Boost | First L2 expansion of stVaults. wstETH yield optimization on Linea | Coming Soon |
| Long-term | PQ Validator Key Transition | BLS→Winternitz+STARK (~200K gas verification). ML-DSA 50x signature size makes aggregation the key blocker. STARK-based aggregation is the only viable path but remains "unsolved" | 2029 target |
Infrastructure Monitoring
| Item | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| FOCIL SFI | Complete | Formalized at Breakout #29 (2/24). Engine API change scope confirmed |
| BAL #13 | 4 PRs in progress | Partial statefulness proposal — exploratory stage |
| Blob Streaming | Research proposal | AOT (ahead-of-time) + JIT (just-in-time) 2-lane DA expansion architecture |
| RPC Standards | v1.0.0 | Cancun baseline, 71 methods, endpoint-level versioning |
| EIP-8024 | Spec update | SWAPN/DUPN/EXCHANGE — 2 commits |
| PQ Aggregation | Blocker identified | ML-DSA 3,309B (52x ECDSA), BLS aggregation 48B→1.7MB/slot (35,000x), FOCIL capacity ~98% reduction |
| EVM Stats | Data published | 88.9% transactions <32 stack depth, 90.3% <1KiB memory |
4. Protocol Call Key Decisions
6 protocol calls this week (cumulative: 123):
| Date | Call | Key Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2/23 (Mon) | ACDT #071 | EIP-8037 deferred to devnet-4, EIP-3155 update approved |
| 2/23 (Mon) | RPC #021 | Execution APIs v1.0.0 versioning (Cancun baseline, 71 methods) |
| 2/24 (Tue) | FOCIL #029 | SFI completion formalized. devnet-0 timeline discussion begins |
| 2/25 (Wed) | BAL #013 | Partial statefulness proposal emerged. 4 PRs (#11227, #11323, #2109, #726) in progress |
| 2/25 (Wed) | PQI #028 | Notes not published |
| 2/26 (Thu) | ACDE #231 | EIP-8141 Frame Transaction → Hegota EL headliner with 3:1 client support! Geth, Erigon, Nimbus EL support; Besu maintains LUCID preference |
Key Technical Decisions
Hegota headliner structure de facto confirmed:
| Layer | Mechanism | Status | Decision Call |
|---|---|---|---|
| CL | FOCIL (EIP-7805) | Scheduled (SFI complete) | ACDC #175 (2/19) |
| EL | Frame Transaction (EIP-8141) | 3:1 support (Forkcast pending) | ACDE #231 (2/26) |
EIP-8141 Frame Transaction highlights:
- New transaction type (0x06), 3 frame modes (VERIFY/PAYER/SENDER), 4 new opcodes
- Native AA: Protocol enshrinement of ERC-4337
- PQ off-ramp: Per-account gradual transition from ECDSA to quantum-resistant signatures
- Vitalik: FOCIL + EIP-8141 combination enables "1–2 slot transaction inclusion guarantee"
BAL Breakout #13 — Partial Statefulness:
- Proposal to use BAL for nodes to store domain-separated state subtrees instead of the full state
- Exploratory stage, but signals BAL's potential evolution beyond Glamsterdam gas optimization into a core state management layer
5. Weekly Topic Recommendations
| Rank | Topic | Category | Timeliness | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EF Treasury 70K ETH Staking Architecture Deep Dive | Issue | EF blog published, first deposit completed, Dirk+Vouch+MaxEB+local building analysis | 0.95 |
| 2 | PQ Aggregation Blocker — How 50x Signature Size Disrupts Consensus, FOCIL, and L2 | Article | Vitalik's 4 quantum-vulnerable areas, ethmagicians PQ discussion surge, PQTS #3 upcoming | 0.92 |
| 3 | Strawmap Deep Dive — 7 Forks × 5 North Stars | Article | strawmap.org launch, Vitalik "a very important document", ACDE #231 | 0.91 |
| 4 | EF DeFi Commitment + Protocol Priorities | Issue | EF DeFi Coordination Team launch, Protocol Priorities series announcement | 0.91 |
Weekly theme: This week was dominated by EF strategic moves (DeFi Commitment, Treasury Staking, Protocol Priorities, Strawmap), while Post-Quantum transition blockers entered public discourse. With Hegota EL headliner now determined, demand for fork structure analysis is expected to surge.
6. Next Week Key Schedule
| Date | Event | Key Agenda |
|---|---|---|
| 3/2 (Mon) | ACDT #072 | blob-devnet-0, bal-devnet-2/3, epbs-devnet-0 review, gas limit, eth/70 |
| 3/4 (Tue) | PQTS #003 | PQ devnet, EIP-7932 crypto-agility, ML-DSA aggregation |
| 3/4 (Tue) | ETM #001 | First Encrypt The Mempool call! EIP-8105 status, Beacon Chain RPC key reveal, AEAD/DEM |
| 3/5 (Wed) | ACDC #176 | FOCIL devnet-0 timeline, Hegota CL implementation status |
| ~3/11 (Tue) | BAL #014 | Post-bal-devnet-3 progress review |
Next week's top watchpoint: PQTS #3 and ETM #1 both convene on 3/4, advancing the two pillars of "Harden the L1" — Post-Quantum and Encrypted Mempool. At ACDC #176 (3/5), the FOCIL devnet-0 launch timeline is expected to crystallize following SFI completion.
Weekly Key Metrics
| Metric | Last Week (2/20) | This Week (2/27) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glamsterdam Scheduled | 2 | 2 | - |
| Glamsterdam Considered | 20 | 20 | - (8 days unchanged) |
| Hegota Scheduled | 1 | 1 | - (FOCIL SFI complete) |
| Hegota Proposed | 1 | 0 | -1 (EIP-8105 Withdrawn) |
| Hegota Withdrawn | 0 | 1 | +1 (EIP-8105) |
| Hegota EL Headliner | TBD | EIP-8141 3:1 support | De facto confirmed |
| Fusaka Included | 13 | 13 | - |
| Weekly Protocol Calls | 7 | 6 | -1 |
| Cumulative Protocol Calls | - | 123 | +6 |
| Forkcast Status Changes | 3 | 1 | EIP-8105 Withdrawn |
Written by: @r2jamong
Data sources: ethereum/pm, ethereum/forkcast, Ethereum Magicians, ethresear.ch, strawmap.org