Ethereum core developers continue to make steady progress toward the Glamsterdam network upgrade while simultaneously beginning early planning for Hegota, the protocol's subsequent hard fork. During the latest All Core Developers Consensus (ACDC #182) call, client teams discussed Devnet-6 testing results, finalized the Devnet-7 launch timeline, reviewed several execution-layer improvements, and prepared Glamsterdam EIPs for the Review stage.

Alongside these implementation discussions, developers also announced the timeline for Hegota proposal submissions, officially opening the next phase of Ethereum's upgrade roadmap.

• Glamsterdam Updates
• Hegota Updates

Glamsterdam Updates

Ethereum's immediate development priority remains Glamsterdam. The upgrade has now entered a phase where most major protocol features are implemented, allowing client teams to shift their attention toward interoperability testing, specification refinement, and preparing broader ecosystem testing.

Devnet-6 Continues to Mature

Developers reported that Devnet-6 has been progressing smoothly with participation hovering around 80%. Consensus layer implementations are functioning well overall, while only a handful of execution-layer issues remain under investigation.

One issue involving Nethermind's storage reads during reverted contract execution was identified and is already being addressed. Another performance issue affecting Grandine was reported through CLI testing. Despite these isolated bugs, developers agreed that the network has remained largely stable throughout testing.

The current focus is no longer introducing new features but validating existing implementations before expanding testing to larger multi-client environments.

Devnet-7 Scheduled for Early Next Week

A major portion of the meeting focused on Devnet-7 readiness. Both Consensus Layer (CL) and Execution Layer (EL) specification releases are now available, allowing client teams to begin final implementation work.

Developers also confirmed that Progressive Containers (EIP-7688) are already integrated into local testing environments, marking another milestone for Glamsterdam. One discussion centered around recent specification updates to EIP-2780.

Since the changes were relatively small and execution-layer teams expressed confidence in implementing them quickly, developers agreed that these updates should be included directly in Devnet-7 rather than postponed. With client implementations progressing simultaneously across both layers, the group reached consensus to target an early next-week launch for Devnet-7.

Preparing a Public Glamsterdam Devnet

Beyond internal testing, developers also discussed when the wider Ethereum ecosystem should gain access to Glamsterdam features. Several participants emphasized that application developers, wallet providers, infrastructure teams, and smart contract developers require sufficient time to adapt before public testnets eventually launch.

Execution-layer repricing changes are expected to affect many deployed contracts, making early community testing particularly important. Rather than waiting until final specifications are frozen, developers proposed launching a relatively stable public Devnet around early August.

This would allow projects to begin testing while still leaving enough time to make adjustments before official public testnets become available. The objective is to expose ecosystem developers to Glamsterdam changes much earlier than previous upgrade cycles.

ePBS Implementation Continues to Evolve

Another major topic involved Ethereum's evolving proposer-builder separation (ePBS) architecture. Developers agreed to simplify the Produce Block V4 API by removing the "blended execution payload" approach.

Although the original design slightly reduced payload transmission overhead, implementation experience showed that it introduced unnecessary complexity across validator clients, remote signers, and external tooling. By removing the feature, clients can significantly simplify block production without sacrificing most of the expected performance improvements.

Attention also shifted toward builder authorization mechanisms. Prysm developers introduced a standardized method for validator clients to communicate builder preferences through authorization objects, enabling validators to define trusted builders, minimum bids, and builder-specific preferences.

Builder Deposit Contract Nears Audit

The Builder Execution Requests proposal (EIP-8282) also reached an important milestone. Although minor refinements may still emerge during external security reviews, developers agreed that the contract semantics are effectively finalized.

The plan is to begin formal security auditing shortly after Devnet-7 demonstrates stable operation.

Circuit Breakers Improve Network Resilience

Ethereum clients are also implementing circuit breaker mechanisms for ePBS. These systems automatically stop accepting bids from builders that repeatedly fail to deliver execution payloads, allowing validators to fall back to alternative builders or self-building when necessary.

Teku explained that its implementation monitors missing payloads over configurable time windows while temporarily banning unreliable builders before automatically allowing them back. Lodestar follows a similar philosophy by monitoring payload delivery instead of beacon blocks.

Prysm is taking a more advanced approach by distinguishing between trusted builders and peer-to-peer builders. If trusted builders fail, validators may eventually self-build, while repeated failures from unknown P2P builders could simply remove those builders from consideration.

The discussion highlighted Ethereum's continued emphasis on balancing decentralization with operational resilience.

Glamsterdam EIPs Advance Toward Review

Outside protocol implementation, considerable progress is also occurring within Ethereum's governance process. Developers have now begun moving nearly every Glamsterdam proposal from Draft into Review status.

This transition represents an important milestone because Review status signals that proposal specifications are largely complete and implementation work has matured significantly. The meeting also revisited EIP-7723, which defines how network upgrade proposals should progress through different stages.

Editors proposed clarifying terminology surrounding Review status, network stages, and the handling of Deferred For Inclusion (DFI) proposals. They also recommended limiting upgrade-stage terminology exclusively to Core EIPs while simplifying future Meta EIPs for upgrades such as Pectra, Fusaka, Glamsterdam, and future forks.

Hegota Updates

While Glamsterdam remains Ethereum's primary engineering focus, developers have officially begun planning its successor, Hegota. Although implementation work has not yet started, discussions during ACDC #182 established several important milestones that define how Hegota will evolve over the coming months.

Proposal Window Officially Opens

Developers announced that the submission window for Hegota's non-headliner proposals will remain open until 6 August 2026. Any proposal intended for inclusion as a supporting feature must be submitted before this deadline.

The process follows the same governance model used during previous network upgrades, allowing contributors sufficient time to present proposals while enabling developers to narrow the scope before implementation begins. This announcement effectively marks the beginning of Ethereum's Hegota planning phase.

FOCIL Remains the Leading Headliner

Among all proposals currently under discussion, Fork Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL) continues to be viewed as the strongest candidate for Hegota's flagship feature. FOCIL introduces inclusion lists enforced through Ethereum's fork-choice rules, making transaction censorship significantly more difficult for block builders.

As proposer-builder separation continues to evolve, developers increasingly view transaction inclusion guarantees as a critical component of Ethereum's long-term neutrality. Although no final decision has been made, FOCIL currently remains the most prominent proposal associated with Hegota.

Validator Improvements Continue to Expand

Beyond FOCIL, Hegota is expected to focus heavily on validator experience and consensus-layer efficiency. Several proposals including EIP-8148, EIP-8243, and EIP-7684 continue to receive discussion.

Collectively, these proposals aim to improve validator balance management, optimize attestation propagation, simplify validator operations, and reduce networking overhead. Rather than introducing one transformational feature, Hegota appears likely to bundle multiple incremental improvements that together strengthen Ethereum's validator ecosystem.

Early Research Still Ongoing

Unlike Glamsterdam, Hegota has not yet entered active implementation. Client teams are currently evaluating proposal feasibility, networking implications, consensus impacts, validator performance, and interoperability concerns before determining which proposals deserve inclusion.

No dedicated Hegota Devnet has been announced yet. Instead, researchers are prioritizing proposal evaluation while Glamsterdam continues progressing toward public testing.

With Devnet-7 expected shortly, a public Glamsterdam Devnet targeted for early August, and Hegota proposal submissions closing on August 6, Ethereum's roadmap continues to move steadily from specification toward implementation.

That's all from ACD meeting today. You can follow notes from earlier meetings here.

If you find any issues in this blog or notice any missing information, please feel free to reach out at yash@etherworld.co for clarifications or updates.

To promote your Web3 articles, events, and projects, you may reach out anytime via EtherWorld PR for submissions and collaboration.

Related Articles

1. Ethereum Foundation Completes Five-Year Argot Funding Deal
2. Tracking the Glamsterdam Upgrade on EIPsInsight
3. Ethereum Encrypted Mempool: Progress, Challenges & the Road to Hegota
4. Ethereum Institutional Launches to Bring Institutions Onchain
5. Ethereum's 1% Issuance Plan Sparks Staking Debate

To follow blockchain news, track Ethereum protocol progress, and read our latest stories, subscribe to our weekly today.