Ethereum’s core developers have locked in the name and tentative timeline for the blockchain’s second major protocol upgrade of 2026, officially christening it “Hegota” and targeting a rollout in the latter half of the year. The decision, reached earlier this month, places Hegota immediately after the upcoming Glamsterdam upgrade, which is expected to go live in the first half of 2026, and reflects a notable shift in how Ethereum now approaches network evolution.
For much of its history, Ethereum bundled large numbers of changes into upgrades that arrived roughly once per year, often after lengthy debates and delays. That model has increasingly come under pressure as the network’s user base, decentralized finance ecosystem, and layer-2 activity have grown rapidly. In response to criticism from builders and community members who argued that protocol development was not keeping pace with real-world usage, Ethereum contributors have embraced a faster, more iterative upgrade cadence. Hegota is one of the clearest signs yet that this strategy is becoming the new norm.
While the full scope of Hegota remains undefined, developers are expected to finalize the feature set for Glamsterdam at their next coordination meeting in early January. That means no major Ethereum Improvement Proposals are likely to be formally assigned to Hegota until at least February. Even so, early discussions are already pointing toward a familiar pattern in Ethereum development: proposals that fail to make the cut for Glamsterdam due to complexity or timing constraints may be deferred and resurface in Hegota.
Among the most closely watched possibilities is the inclusion of Verkle Trees, a next-generation data structure designed to improve how Ethereum nodes store and verify state data. If adopted, Verkle Trees could significantly reduce the storage and hardware requirements needed to run a node, lowering barriers to participation and strengthening Ethereum’s decentralization. For long-term investors and infrastructure providers, this kind of change is strategically important, as it helps ensure the network can scale without becoming dependent on a small number of well-funded operators.
The naming of Hegota also follows Ethereum’s established tradition of pairing a Devcon host city with a star name, combining “Bogota” for the execution layer and “Heze” for the consensus layer. In a recent blog post, the Ethereum Foundation framed Hegota as the natural continuation of recent progress, noting that previous upgrades such as Fusaka delivered key features like PeerDAS, while Glamsterdam is expected to introduce block-level access lists and enshrined proposer-builder separation.
From a market perspective, the announcement is unlikely to trigger immediate price action, but it reinforces a broader narrative that many long-term Ethereum holders care deeply about: consistent execution. Clear timelines and a predictable upgrade rhythm reduce uncertainty for developers, institutional participants, and layer-2 networks building on Ethereum. Over time, that stability can translate into stronger developer confidence and sustained ecosystem growth.
Looking ahead, Hegota represents more than just another named upgrade on Ethereum’s roadmap. It underscores a maturing governance and development process that is increasingly focused on delivering improvements incrementally rather than waiting for perfect, all-encompassing releases. If Ethereum can maintain this momentum through Glamsterdam and into Hegota, it may strengthen its position as the most resilient and adaptable smart contract platform in the years to come.
