From Glamsterdam to Hegota: Ethereum 2026 Dual Upgrade Roadmap and Technical Analysis of ETH Price Trends

As Ethereum developers convene the 66th All-Core Developer Execution Layer Meeting (ACDE) in January 2026, the next major network upgrade following Fusaka and Glamsterdam—the Ethereum Hegota upgrade—has officially entered the sprint phase for “Headliner” proposal selection. Unlike previous forks focused on immediate TPS improvements, Hegota is widely regarded as a pivotal point in Ethereum’s architecture shift from “high growth” to “high sustainability.”

This article will comprehensively analyze the core logic of the Hegota upgrade from three dimensions: technical reserves, on-chain data status, and market sentiment.

The “Dual Symphony” Behind the Naming: Deep Integration of Heze and Bogotá

Hegota is not an invented term out of thin air. It cleverly combines the star name Heze from the consensus layer with Bogotá, the host city of Devcon, from the execution layer. This naming convention clearly conveys the essence of this upgrade: it is not a simple patch for a single layer but a coordinated operation between the execution and consensus layers.

In the Ethereum Foundation’s official blog dated January 20, 2026, it was explicitly stated that the Hegota Headliner EIP submission window will officially close on February 4, 2026, with developers expected to make final decisions on core features by February 26. This means the community has less than a month left for discussion and proposal sprinting.

Technical Core: Verkle Trees and FOCIL’s “Load Reduction + Safeguarding” Combo

Based on current Ethereum research forums and the latest ACD meeting minutes, the main candidate features for Hegota are highly concentrated in two directions:

Verkle Trees: Reducing Node Storage Requirements by 90%

Ethereum’s current Merkle Patricia Tree structure becomes increasingly bloated amid explosive growth in DeFi, NFTs, and memecoins. Data shows that as Gas targets approach 180 million, the storage pressure on full nodes is nearing critical levels. The introduction of Verkle Trees will allow nodes to verify blocks without storing the entire state. This feature directly supports Ethereum’s long-term roadmap goal of “The Verge,” aiming to enable lightweight nodes on mobile devices and even smartwatches, fundamentally lowering the hardware barrier for solo staking.

FOCIL: Built-in Censorship-Resistant Firewall at Protocol Level

While the Fork Choice List (FOCIL) was temporarily removed from Glamsterdam to narrow its scope, it has become an undisputed top candidate for Hegota. FOCIL enforces inclusion of specific transactions by authorized validators, breaking the current monopoly of block production dominated by a few builders. This is not only a direct response to MEV centralization pressures but also an institutional reinforcement of Ethereum’s return to a “trust-minimized” foundational layer.

The 2026 Dual Upgrade Strategy: Glamsterdam Accelerates, Hegota Builds Foundations

Understanding the value of Hegota requires placing it within Ethereum’s dual upgrade rhythm in 2026:

• Glamsterdam (first half of 2026): Focused on execution layer explosion, including implementing “block access lists” via EIP-7928 to promote transaction parallelism, and trustless block construction through ePBS (original proposer-builder separation).
• Hegota (second half of 2026): Focused on consensus layer purification, digesting the technical debt accumulated during Glamsterdam, and addressing state bloat and historical data expiration issues.

This “one attack, one defense” rhythm marks Ethereum’s shift away from a big-bang “omnipotent fork” towards a more agile, rapid iteration development model.

ETH Market Data Insights: Decoupling of Technical Narrative and Price Structure

As of February 12, 2026, according to Gate’s market panel data:

• Ethereum (ETH) current price: $1,965.26
• 24-hour trading volume: $249.28M
• Market cap: $252.82B (market share 10.04%)
• All-time high: $4,946.05
• 24-hour change: -2.36%, current sentiment rating: “Bullish”

Periodic performance:

• Last 7 days: -8.87%
• Last 30 days: -32.22%
• Last 1 year: -20.59%

Gate analysts’ neutral outlook:

Despite frequent positive signals in the technical roadmap for Hegota, ETH price has recently faced pressure from macro liquidity tightening and high leverage in derivatives markets (estimated leverage ratio reaching a historic high of 0.632). Notably, current prices have retraced about 60.28% from the peak, with the circulating market cap remaining at $252.82B.

According to Gate Research Center data, the 2026 ETH average forecast price is $2,095.27, with a potential volatility range of $1,320.02 to $2,283.84. This indicates the market is digesting overly optimistic expectations from the 2025 bubble period, and the substantive improvements in node economics brought by Hegota could provide price support in the second half of 2026, distinct from macro interest rate influences.

Conclusion: Long-term Perspective from Gate

For investors allocating assets via Gate, the significance of Ethereum’s Hegota upgrade extends far beyond short-term “fork trading.” It is a necessary evolution from a “fat protocol” to a “persistent public data layer.” When Verkle Trees significantly reduce full node operation costs and FOCIL ensures transaction censorship resistance, Ethereum’s moat as a decentralized settlement layer will be further expanded.

We will continue to monitor the final selection results of the Headliner EIP on February 26 and provide timely insights on Gate’s official website. In this consolidation phase, examining the substantive leap in protocol fundamentals may be more strategically valuable than chasing daily price noise.