# Mar 2026 — Week 3

*2026-03-16 ~ 2026-03-20*

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# Weekly Ethereum Research Report (2026-03-16 ~ 2026-03-20)
## TL;DR

- **Bottom line**: Vitalik's official endorsement of DAP, FCR implementations across 6 CL clients, the Glamsterdam devnet transition gap, and Lido Earn First-Loss going live simultaneously reshaped the consensus architecture and validator-operations risk framework.
- **Numbers**: Forkcast status changes have remained at 0 for 30 consecutive days since 2/18, and the only resolution point is ACDE #233 on 3/26, which will cover movement of 20 Glamsterdam Considered items and the AA headliner decision.
- **Action**: Operators and researchers should prioritize tracking the redefinition of the FCR 'safe' tag at RPC #023 on 3/23, ACDE #233 on 3/26, and the stVaults 0% fee deadline on 3/31.


## Top 3 Takeaways

1. **Vitalik officially endorsed Dynamically Available Protocol(DAP) and declared the "Lean Ethereum" vision — a fundamental redesign of Ethereum's consensus architecture, including CL/EL single-daemon integration, ~256-member committee consensus, and 12-second irreversibility(FCR), has entered the official path.**

    Vitalik gave an "Excellent" assessment to Luca Zanolini's proposed DAP(Heartbeat subcommittee + Finality Gadget full validators), declaring it the "only major chain with both synchronous safety and economic finality." At the same time, Fast Confirmation Rule(FCR) guarantees non-revertibility in 1 slot(12 seconds), offering a direct answer to the Rational Finality Stall problem(~4.61 ETH bribe cost based on Lido's 21% stake). All 6 CL clients have started FCR implementation, and redefinition of the 'safe' block tag will be discussed at RPC #23(3/23).

2. **EIP upgrade-inclusion status has been unchanged for 30 consecutive days, setting the longest record to date — ACDE #233(3/26) is the only resolution point, while EIP-8134/EIP-8135 BPO1/BPO2 were promoted to Last Call and blob parameter expansion is moving toward Final in early April.**

    Forkcast has seen 0 status changes for the 30th day since 2/18. ACDE #232(3/12) call notes remain unpublished by D+8, and ACDC #176 also has no posted results, deepening the backlog in information transparency. Meanwhile, EIP-8134(BPO1: blob target 6→10, max 9→15) and EIP-8135(BPO2: target 14, max 21) were promoted from Review to Last Call, with a Final transition expected after ~14 days of final review. ACDE #233(3/26) is expected to deliver mass movement of 20 Glamsterdam Considered items and the final AA headliner decision.

3. **Lido put Earn $5M First-Loss Protection live, received the third stVault Professional application(Nuxian Labs), and is fundamentally reshaping community-staking economics through the IDVTC(Identified DVT Clusters) for CSM v3 proposal.**

    By allocating $5M from the DAO treasury as first-loss coverage against user losses in extreme scenarios, Lido structurally strengthened institutional trust. After SenseiNode(D+10) and Luganodes(16 days), Switzerland-based Nuxian Labs($20M AUM, 15+ networks) applied as the third Professional Operator. In addition, the Lido IDVTC proposal formalizes a path for CSM validators to participate in DVT clusters, likely fundamentally reshaping CSM economics based on 2.5 ETH+ bonds. The CSM slashing incident still has no disclosed cause by D+8, continuing a departure from transparency standards.

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## 1. Roadmap/Upgrade Change Highlights

### The Merge Track — Fundamental Redesign of Consensus Architecture

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| CL/EL single daemon | Research | **Vitalik proposal — toward removing Engine API. Fundamental reconsideration of the 2-daemon structure** |
| Dynamic Available Protocol (DAP) | Research → official path | **Vitalik "Excellent" assessment + official integration into the Lean Ethereum vision** |
| Fast Confirmation Rule (FCR) | Implementation in progress | **All 6 CL clients started implementation. Lodestar 95% test coverage. 'safe' tag linkage at RPC #23 on 3/23** |
| Rational Finality Stall | Research warning | **Pre-finality settlement attack detected. ~4.61 ETH bribe cost based on Lido 21%** |

### Glamsterdam (devnet transition in progress)

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| EIP-7732 (ePBS) | **Scheduled** | epbs-devnet-1 appears on the ACDT #75(3/23) agenda (first time after a 95-day gap) |
| EIP-7928 (BAL) | **Scheduled** | **fee recipient contradiction resolved + 3 co-authors added(Felipe, Rahul, Stefan). bal-devnet-3/4 in progress** |
| EIP-8037 (State Creation Gas) | Considered | "gas validation phases" proposal at Repricings #4 + Erigon feedback |
| EIP-8178 (SSZ Engine API) | Registered | SSZ Engine API + JWT standardization discussion (ACDC #176) |
| devnet-0→devnet-1 | Transition preparation | **ACDC #176: gap identified. EIP-4788 system contract conflict found. Variable PTC deadline deferred to a later devnet** |
| 20 Considered items | Unchanged for 30 days | Resolution expected at ACDE #233(3/26) |

### Hegota (FOCIL + AA + encrypted mempool design branch)

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | **Scheduled** | **FOCIL x Native AA 3-tier IL validation design(Thomas Thiery). 100K/TX, 250K/IL gas cap** |
| EIP-8141 (Frame Transaction) | Waiting for CFI | Confirmation remains deferred because ACDE #232 call notes are unpublished |
| EIP-8184 (LUCID) | **Newly registered** | **Commit-before-reveal MEV protection. Hegota Declined status, but spec maturity is high** |
| Encrypted Frame Tx | Research | Thomas Thiery proposal — alternative for optional MEV parameter encryption |
| EIP-8197 (CATX) | Newly registered | **Crypto-agility transaction — replace signatures during PQ migration without changing TX semantics** |

### Fusaka / PQ (BPO Last Call + PQ privacy expansion)

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| Fusaka Included | 13 items maintained | No change |
| EIP-8134/EIP-8135 BPO1/BPO2 | **Promoted to Last Call** | **blob target 6→10→14, max 9→15→21. Final transition expected around early April** |
| EIP-8182 X-Wing | PQ baseline | **ML-KEM + X25519 hybrid confirmed. delivery-key registry added** |
| Falcon signature aggregation | Research | PQ signature size 10~20x ECDSA → EL mempool limits need adjustment |
| PQ → privacy threat | **New axis** | **EF official analysis: PQ transition scope expands from signatures to privacy(ring signatures, ZK proofs)** |

### The Verge Track — Long-Term State Tree Transition

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| Binary Trie | Research series started | **Optimal group depth study #1 released. Verkle→Binary Trie transition path made concrete** |

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## 2. EIP Status Changes (Forkcast Monday 3/16 vs Friday 3/20)

### Summary of Upgrade-Inclusion Status Changes

| Change Type | Count |
|-----------|------|
| Official stage changes | **0** |
| Substantive progress (not reflected in Forkcast) | **4** — EIP-8184 LUCID registration, EIP-8197 CATX registration, EIP-8134/EIP-8135 BPO Last Call promotion, EIP-7928 co-author expansion |

**30 consecutive days without Forkcast changes** (longest record to date since 2/18). ACDE #232(3/12) call notes unpublished by D+8 + ACDC #176 results not posted. Next possible change point: **ACDE #233(3/26)**.

### Status by Upgrade (as of 3/20)

| Upgrade | Scheduled | Considered | Included | Declined | Withdrawn |
|-----------|-----------|------------|----------|----------|-----------|
| **Glamsterdam** | 2 (7732, 7928) | 20 | - | 33 | 4 |
| **Hegota** | 1 (7805) | 0 | - | 2 (7807, 8184) | 1 (8105) |
| **Fusaka** | - | - | 13 | - | - |
| **Pectra** | - | - | 12 (completed) | - | - |

119 total items tracked. No Friday-vs-Monday change.

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## 3. Major Validator/Infrastructure Issues

### Direct Impact on Validator Operations

| Priority | Item | Details | Timing |
|---------|------|------|------|
| **Urgent** | Lido Earn $5M First-Loss | DAO treasury senior-loss mechanism is live. Structural strengthening of institutional trust | 3/20 |
| **Urgent** | CSM slashing cause undisclosed | D+8 elapsed. 6 validators, <1 ETH loss. Complete departure from transparency standards | D+8 |
| **Urgent** | stVaults 0% fee deadline | **D-11 (3/31 deadline)**. Fee-system transition decision is imminent | In progress |
| **Medium-term** | IDVTC for CSM v3 | Lido DVT cluster for CSM proposal. Fundamental reshaping of CSM economics (2.5 ETH+ bond) | 3/17 proposal |
| **Medium-term** | 3 stVault Professional cases | SenseiNode, Luganodes, **Nuxian Labs(new)** — operator ecosystem diversification | In progress |
| **Medium-term** | Lido Feb financial update | 2025 total revenue $84.7M(YoY -18%). DAO Take Rate 6.10%(+23%). Automatic buyback Q2(ETH >$3,000) | 3/17 |
| **Medium-term** | Launchnodes DC postmortem | 2/14 5,572 validators offline for ~3h15m. 3.836 ETH loss. Reconfirmed necessity of multi-DC strategy | 3/18 |
| **Long-term** | CL/EL single-daemon integration | Vitalik proposal. Could structurally weaken professional operators' "infrastructure complexity" differentiation moat | 2~5 years |
| **Long-term** | DAP + FCR | Consensus-structure redesign + 12-second irreversibility. L2/bridge settlement paradigm shift | Research stage |

### Infrastructure Monitoring Status

| Item | Status | This Week's Change |
|------|------|-------------|
| ePBS devnet-0→1 | Transition preparation | **epbs-devnet-1 appears on the ACDT #75(3/23) agenda for the first time in 95 days** |
| BAL devnet-3/4 | In progress | co-author expansion + fee recipient contradiction resolved |
| Glamsterdam devnet-0→1 | Gap identified | **EIP-4788 system contract conflict found. Variable PTC deadline deferred to later** |
| snap/2 BAL state healing | Draft registered | EIP-8189 message ID redefinition completed |
| FCR implementation | **All 6 CL clients started** | Lodestar 95% test coverage. 'safe' tag redefinition discussion on 3/23 |
| PQ RLPx | Exploration | Proposal for unsigned handshake design |
| Binary SSZ Engine API | Benchmark | JWT standardization discussed at ACDC #176 |
| GOOSE-2025 | Final report | **700+ NO, 412 CSM participants. DAO Take Rate 6.10%** |

---

## 4. Key Protocol Call Decisions

**7 calls held this week** (all official notes unpublished — based on GitHub issues, agendas, and livestreams):

| Date | Call | Number | Key Result |
|------|-----|------|----------|
| 3/16 (Mon) | ACDT | #074 | **SFI process tension** — devnet inclusion ≠ automatic SFI transition. ePBS PTC lookahead PR submitted. BAL I/O benchmarking |
| 3/17 (Tue) | FCR | #005 | **All 6 CL clients implementing**. Lodestar 95% tests. Fork Choice independence confirmed. Performance metric standardization proposed(M. Kalinin) |
| 3/18 (Tue) | ETM | #002 | **Full EIP-8184 LUCID spec released**. Encrypted mempool demo stack discussed |
| 3/18 (Tue) | PQTS | #004 | **Ephemeral Key Rotation vs Frame Transaction PQ path comparison**. Testnet-stage agreement |
| 3/18 (Tue) | Repricings | #004 | **New EIP-8037 Gas Validation Phases proposal**(PR #11414). Erigon feedback incorporated |
| **3/19 (Thu)** | **ACDC** | **#176** | **Glamsterdam devnet-0→1 gap identified. EIP-4788 conflict found. Variable PTC deadline deferred to later. SSZ Engine API + JWT standardization** |
| 3/19 (Thu) | ERC-8004 | Launch Day | ERC-8004 spec metric standardization |

### Major Technical Decisions in Detail

**1. ACDC #176 — Glamsterdam devnet transition and CL implementation:**
- Gap identified in devnet-0→devnet-1 transition requirements: EIP-4788 system contract conflict emerged as an unexpected blocker
- Variable PTC deadline deferred to a later devnet as a practical decision
- Discussion of strengthening EL/CL interoperability through SSZ Engine API + JWT standardization

**2. FCR #005 — accelerating 12-second irreversibility implementation:**
- Confirmed implementation progress across all CL clients(Lighthouse, Teku, Nimbus, Prysm, Lodestar, Grandine)
- Balance source finalized as previous-epoch justified checkpoint
- RPC #23 on 3/23 scheduled to discuss redefining the 'safe' block tag from ~6.4 minutes → 12 seconds(1 slot)

**3. ACDT #074 — SFI process governance tension:**
- ACDC pushed back against a request to batch-transition 9 EIPs included in bal-devnet-3 to SFI
- Reconfirmed the principle that "devnet inclusion ≠ automatic SFI transition" — explicit ACD decision required
- Ongoing tension between process transparency and development speed

**4. Encrypted mempool 3-path branch:**
- Full spec completed for EIP-8184 LUCID (commit-before-reveal)
- Encrypted Frame Transactions (optional parameter encryption) proposed by Thomas Thiery
- PQ-compatible Falcon aggregation + X-Wing-based encryption → agreement that all 3 paths proceed to testnet stage

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## 5. Key Schedule for Next Week

| Date | Event | Core Agenda |
|------|--------|----------|
| 3/23 (Mon) | **ACDT #075** | **First epbs-devnet-1 progress after a 95-day gap + bal-devnet-3/4 review** |
| 3/23 (Mon) | **RPC #023** | **FCR 'safe' block tag redefinition(~6.4 minutes → 12 seconds). Core impact on L2/bridges** |
| 3/24 (Tue) | FOCIL #031 (expected) | Follow-up to FOCIL x Native AA 3-tier IL validation. Hybrid strategy concretization |
| 3/24 (Tue) | PQ Interop (expected) | X-Wing + Falcon testnet progress. Discussion of response to PQ privacy threats |
| **3/26 (Thu)** | **ACDE #233** | **🔴 Biggest watchpoint. Expected resolution of 30-day EIP freeze. Mass movement of 20 Glamsterdam Considered items + final AA headliner decision + Hegota scope confirmation** |
| 3/31 (Mon) | stVaults 0% fee deadline | Deadline for operator fee-system transition decision |
| ~early April | EIP-8134/EIP-8135 Final | BPO1/BPO2 Last Call → expected Final transition. Confirmation of blob parameter expansion |
| TBD | ACDE #232 call notes release | D+8 elapsed. Confirm EIP-8141 headliner decision + gas repricing decisions |

**Biggest watchpoint for next week:** ACDE #233(3/26) is the only resolution point for the 30-day consecutive EIP freeze. Mass movement of 20 Glamsterdam Considered items to Scheduled/Declined, the final AA headliner decision(EIP-8130 vs EIP-8141 vs EIP-8175), and confirmation of the Hegota scope are expected to be handled together. At ACDT #075 on 3/23, epbs-devnet-1 will officially start for the first time in 95 days, and RPC #023 will discuss redefining the FCR 'safe' block tag, directly affecting L2/bridge settlement timing. The stVaults 0% fee deadline(3/31) is pressing at D-11, making an operator fee-transition decision imminent.

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## Weekly Key Metrics

| Metric | Last Week (3/13) | This Week (3/20) | Change |
|------|-------------|-------------|------|
| Glamsterdam Scheduled | 2 items | 2 items | - |
| Glamsterdam Considered | 20 items | 20 items | - (unchanged for 30 days) |
| Hegota Scheduled | 1 item | 1 item | - |
| Hegota Declined | - | **2 items (7807, 8184)** | +2 items |
| AA headliner competition | 3-way race (8130/8141/8175) | 3-way race maintained | Confirmation deferred because call notes are unpublished |
| Fusaka Included | 13 items | 13 items | - |
| Weekly protocol calls | 6 | **7** | ACDT#74, FCR#5, ETM#2, PQTS#4, Repricings#4, ACDC#176, ERC-8004 |
| Forkcast status changes | 0 (23 days) | **0 (30 days)** | 7 additional days of freeze (longest ever) |
| Lido operator changes | 3 | **2** | IDVTC proposal, Nuxian Labs Professional application |
| Lido Earn | Launched | **$5M First-Loss live** | Institutional risk framework added |
| PQ track | devnet-5 signature decision | **X-Wing confirmed + PQ privacy threat analysis** | Scope expansion(signatures→privacy) |
| Consensus architecture | - | **DAP official endorsement + FCR implementation across 6 CL clients** | Fundamental redesign enters official path |
| New EIP registrations | 4 | **3** | EIP-8184, EIP-8196, EIP-8197 |
| BPO Last Call | - | **EIP-8134/EIP-8135 promoted to Last Call** | blob parameter expansion Final in early April |

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*Written by: @r2jamong*<br>
*Data sources: ethereum/pm, EIP Upgrade Snapshot, Ethereum Magicians, ethresear.ch, research.lido.fi*