Ethereum Unveils 'Hegota' Upgrade for 2026: What to Expect

Ethereum's next major upgrade after Glamsterdam is named Hegota, planned for late 2026. It will focus on Verkle Trees, state expiry, and execution optimizations to boost scalability and efficiency.

Ethereum developers have officially named the upgrade following Glamsterdam as "Hegota," combining the naming conventions of "Bogota" for the execution layer and "Heze" for the consensus layer. Hegota is scheduled for the second half of 2026, with its main Ethereum Improvement Proposal yet to be selected, a decision expected in February. The upgrade is in early planning, with developers focusing on finalizing Glamsterdam, the first scheduled upgrade of 2026. Hegota is expected to address long-term roadmap goals, including the introduction of Verkle Trees to improve data efficiency, state and history expiry mechanisms to manage blockchain growth, and execution-layer optimizations. These changes aim to make Ethereum more scalable, efficient, and easier to operate, especially for node operators, while supporting regular, predictable upgrade cycles. The naming and planning were confirmed during the final All Core Developers Execution call of the year, with meetings set to resume in January to finalize Glamsterdam's scope.