Weekly Ethereum Research Report (2026-02-14 ~ 2026-02-20)
TL;DR
- Bottom line: FOCIL (EIP-7805) was confirmed as Hegota Scheduled at ACDC #175 (2/19) with unanimous agreement from all 5 CL clients, effectively defining Hegota as a censorship-resistance upgrade.
- Numbers: There were 7 protocol calls this week, Glamsterdam Considered rose from 18 to 20 items, and Hegota Scheduled increased from 0 to 1 item.
- Action: Operators and researchers should track FOCIL CL implementations, local inclusion lists, and P2P subnet readiness, and first verify whether UEEM (EIP-8105) is included at ACDE #231 on 2/26.
Top 3 Takeaways
FOCIL (EIP-7805) was confirmed as Hegota Scheduled at ACDC #175 (2/19).
자세히 읽기
This milestone, decided by unanimous agreement from all five CL client teams, broke 11 days of no EIP status changes and effectively defined Hegota as a "censorship-resistance upgrade." On the same day, Vitalik explicitly stated that "FOCIL is already a significant hardening of Ethereum."
The EF published Protocol Priorities 2026, reorganizing priorities into three tracks: "Scale + Improve UX + Harden the L1."
자세히 읽기
The key change is the creation of "Harden the L1," making FOCIL, post-quantum security, and censorship resistance explicit priorities. At the same time, Encrypt The Mempool Session 0 was held, beginning concrete work on UEEM (EIP-8105) and LUCID.
Glamsterdam gas repricing moved from theory to empirical work.
자세히 읽기
Repricings #2 decided on calldata pricing at 64/64 and adopted subcall reservoir Option 1, while GasRepricing.com launched and exchange/dApp outreach began. DevNet-3 was delayed to 3/4, but infrastructure testing continues with bal-devnet-2 stability restored and Fusaka blob-devnet-0 running.
1. Roadmap/Upgrade Change Highlights
Glamsterdam (expected mid-2026)
| Item | Status | This week's change |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7732 (ePBS) | Scheduled | ePBS DevNet-0: target 2–3 clients by late February. Lighthouse Kurtosis config confirmed working |
| EIP-7928 (BALs) | Scheduled | max items cap set — manages network load through BAL size constraints. DOS protection PR 11234 |
| EIP-7975 (eth/70) | Considered (new) | Added as Considered on 2/16. Partial block receipt lists — supports large receipt sync |
| EIP-8159 (eth/71) | Considered (new) | Added as Considered on 2/16. BAL P2P exchange protocol — complements the BALs ecosystem's P2P layer via eth/71 |
| EIP-8037 (State Creation Gas) | Considered | Confirmed for DevNet-3 inclusion. Repricings #2 adopted subcall reservoir Option 1 |
| EIP-7976 (Calldata Floor) | Considered | calldata pricing fixed at 64/64 (same for zero + non-zero). Worst-case block 3.5MB → 2MB |
| EIP-2780 (Intrinsic Tx Gas) | Considered | Draft spec/tests ready. Cold EOA access reduced by 500 gas |
| Overall gas repricing | 20 Considered items | Repricings #2 completed. GasRepricing.com launched, Coinbase/Kraken outreach started |
Hegota (after Glamsterdam)
| Item | Status | This week's change |
|---|---|---|
| EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | Scheduled (confirmed!) | Raised from Considered → Scheduled at ACDC #175. Unanimous agreement from all 5 CL clients. 2D PeerDAS handled as DFI |
| EIP-8105 (UEEM) | Proposed | Encrypt The Mempool #0 held (2/18). Discussed 2-slot execution design. Envelope signer reference added |
| LUCID | EIP in progress | ETM #0 decided sealed tx gas limit at 1/8 of the block. EIP expected to be published within days |
| Quick Slots | Proposal stage | Remains on non-headliner track |
Fusaka (stable operations)
- blob-devnet-0 running: 20 nodes, ~90% participation, Lighthouse/Prism ready, Teku/Nimbus in progress
- Testing under poor network conditions: 80ms latency and MEV nodes limited to 2 peers
Protocol Priorities 2026 (new)
| Track | 2025 | 2026 | Leads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | Scale L1 + Scale Blobs | Unified — Gas limit 100M+ target | Ansgar Dietrichs, Marius, Raul |
| Improve UX | Improve UX | Maintained, with stronger AA + interoperability | (needs confirmation) |
| Harden the L1 | (none) | New — FOCIL, PQ, censorship resistance | Fredrik, Parithosh, Thomas |
2. EIP Status Changes (Forkcast 2/14 Monday vs 2/20 Friday)
Summary of upgrade-inclusion status changes
| Change | EIP | Upgrade | Previous status | Current status | Decision call |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Promotion | EIP-7805 (FOCIL) | Hegota | Considered | Scheduled | ACDC #175 (2/19) |
| Addition | EIP-7975 (eth/70) | Glamsterdam | (none) | Considered | ACDE #230 (2/12) |
| Addition | 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 weekly change: After 11 days with no changes (2/8–2/19), the major decision to confirm FOCIL as Scheduled was made. In Glamsterdam, two items, eth/70 and eth/71, were added to Considered, formalizing networking protocol upgrades.
3. Key Validator/Infrastructure Issues
Direct impact on validator operations
| Priority | Item | Details | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urgent | FOCIL Scheduled confirmed | CL client implementation begins. Validators gain the obligation to create local inclusion lists. P2P subnet participation required | Hegota target |
| Urgent | ePBS DevNet-0 | Target launch with 2–3 CL clients by late February. Proposer-Builder separation infrastructure testing begins | Late February |
| Mid-term | ETM mempool encryption | If either UEEM/LUCID is included in Hegota, validator MEV strategies require fundamental changes | Hegota |
| Mid-term | Gas repricing | calldata 64/64 and state creation gas increase → changes to block revenue composition | Glamsterdam |
| Long-term | Post-Quantum transition | PQTS #002 demonstrated 200K gas EVM verification. Long-term preparation needed for BLS signature replacement | 2027+ |
Infrastructure monitoring status
| Item | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| bal-devnet-2 | Stability restored | Rolled back after weekend bug, recovered 100% participation |
| bal-devnet-3 | Delayed to 3/4 | Concern over EIP-8037 test failure, more preparation time needed |
| ePBS-devnet-0 | In progress | 2/18 target unrealistic → readjusted to late February |
| Fusaka blob-devnet-0 | Running | 20 nodes, ~90% participation |
| perf-devnet-2 | Dead | All EL clients down, CL chain relaunch required |
| JSON-RPC Versioning | Under exploration | Requesting community feedback on transition to endpoint-level versioning scheme |
4. Core Protocol Call Decisions
There were 7 protocol calls this week:
| Date | Call | Key outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2/16 (Mon) | ACDT #070 | DevNet-3 → delayed to 3/4, Fusaka blob-devnet-0 running |
| 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 demonstrated |
| 2/18 (Wed) | AWD #038 | ERC-7730 V2, Clear Signing live demo |
| 2/19 (Thu) | ACDC #175 | FOCIL Hegota Scheduled confirmed! All 5 CL clients agreed |
Details of major technical decisions
Outline of the three-layer censorship-resistance structure:
| 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 verification:
- Hash-based signature Sphincs+: ~3KB when reduced from 2^64 to 2^20~2^40
- Shrinks scheme: first signature ~300 bytes (smallest possible PQ signature)
- Solidity implementation: C2 scheme under 200K gas per verification
5. Key Schedule for Next Week
| 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 | Final decision on Hegota EL headliner! Whether EIP-8105 (UEEM) is included |
| 3/3 (Tue) | FCR #4 | Fast Confirmation Rule client implementation status |
| 3/4 (Tue) | bal-devnet-3 | Glamsterdam DevNet-3 launch (target date after delay) |
Biggest watch point next week: The Hegota EL headliner will be finalized at ACDE #231 on 2/26. If UEEM (EIP-8105) is promoted to Scheduled, Hegota becomes a censorship-resistance duo upgrade: "FOCIL + encrypted mempool."
Weekly Key Metrics
| Metric | Last week (2/13) | This week (2/20) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glamsterdam Scheduled | 2 items | 2 items | - |
| Glamsterdam Considered | 18 items | 20 items | +2 (eth/70, eth/71) |
| Hegota Scheduled | 0 items | 1 item | +1 (FOCIL!) |
| Hegota Proposed | 1 item | 1 item | - |
| Fusaka Included | 13 items | 13 items | - |
| Weekly protocol calls | 6 calls | 7 calls | +1 (new ETM series) |
| Forkcast status changes | 0 items | 3 items | FOCIL Scheduled + eth/70,71 additions |
Written by: @r2jamong
Data sources: ethereum/pm, ethereum/forkcast, Ethereum Magicians, ethresear.ch