According to reports, Ethereum is planning two major hard forks in 2026 to change how the network operates. The Glamsterdam upgrade is scheduled for mid-2026, followed by Heze-Bogota in late 2026. These upgrades aim to speed up transaction processing, introduce new validation tools, and strengthen the network’s resistance to censorship.
Ethereum is currently trading above $2,900 as the market anticipates a large options expiry, with a reported notional value of $6 billion. There are more call options than puts, and many contracts could expire worthless if ETH fails to rise above the $3,100 “max pain” level. Analysts expect consolidation between $2,700 and $3,100 through the end of the year. Some experts offer a bearish outlook for 2026, suggesting ETH could drop toward $1,800–$2,000 if broader market conditions deteriorate.
The Glamsterdam upgrade focuses on parallel processing, allowing multiple transactions to be executed simultaneously instead of sequentially. Block access lists will inform nodes which data each transaction requires, making parallel execution safer and more efficient. The upgrade will also increase the gas limit to 200 million per block, up from the current 60 million.
Additionally, a protocol-level feature called ePBS (proposer-builder separation) is planned to reduce centralization risks. This will make it easier for validators to use zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs without being penalized for extra computation time. Projections suggest about 10% of validators could begin verifying ZK proofs instead of rechecking all transactions by year-end.
While parallel execution could alleviate network slowdowns during high demand, higher gas limits come with trade-offs. Larger blocks and faster workloads may increase hardware requirements, potentially making it harder for smaller validators to participate. This balance between speed and decentralization will be closely monitored.
A key aspect of the upgrades is enhancing layer-2 scaling. Increasing the number of data blobs per block to 72 or more would give L2 systems significantly more space to store transaction data, potentially enabling them to process hundreds of thousands of transactions per second in aggregate. Projects like ZKsync’s Elastic Network aim to let users keep their funds on Ethereum while using faster L2s. An interoperability layer is also being discussed to facilitate easier movement of activity between different L2s, though challenges related to user experience, liquidity fragmentation, and chain coordination remain.
The Heze-Bogota upgrade will focus on censorship resistance by introducing tools that allow groups of validators to ensure certain transactions are included. Fork-choice inclusion lists are designed to reduce the risk of transactions being blocked, even if only part of the network remains honest. This change emphasizes the network’s commitment to permissionless access and resilience over raw speed.
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Ethereums 2026 Upgrade
Beginner Questions
What is the Ethereum 2026 upgrade
Its a major planned update to the Ethereum network often referred to as The Purge Its main goals are to make transactions cheaper faster and more resistant to censorship
Why is this upgrade needed
Even after previous improvements high fees and slower speeds during busy times can still be a problem This upgrade aims to solve those issues for good and make Ethereum more decentralized
Will this upgrade have a name like The Merge
Yes its commonly called The Purge within the Ethereum community as it focuses on simplifying the network by removing old data and technical debt
How will it make my transactions cheaper
By streamlining how data is stored and processed the network can handle more activity at a lower cost which should directly reduce the gas fees you pay
Do I need to do anything with my ETH or tokens
No As a user holding ETH or tokens in a selfcustody wallet you shouldnt need to take any action The upgrade happens at the network level
Technical Advanced Questions
What are the key technical components of this upgrade
The main features likely include Verkle Trees History Expiry and further optimizations to EIP4844 for scaling
What are Verkle Trees and why are they important
Verkle Trees are a new data structure to replace Merkle Trees They allow for much smaller proofs that data is valid which is crucial for enabling stateless clients This makes running a node easier and the network more decentralized
What does History Expiry or The Purge mean
It refers to a process where very old blockchain history is pruned Nodes wont need to store this forever drastically reducing their storage requirements and lowering the barrier to running a node
How does this upgrade reduce censorship resistance
By making it easier and cheaper to run a node more people can participate in validating the network A more distributed set of validators makes the network harder to censor