Since 2026, the Ethereum ecosystem has entered its most complex adjustment period of the "post-Merge" era. From a deep restructuring of the Foundation’s leadership, to rescheduling core protocol upgrades, to reprioritizing privacy features, the world’s largest smart contract network is undergoing a systemic transformation.
Why Is the Ethereum Foundation Undergoing Intensive Personnel Changes?
Between April and May 2026, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) saw at least 6 to 8 core members either resign or take extended leave, impacting key areas such as protocol engineering, cryptoeconomics research, and management. The departures include former Co-Executive Director Tomasz Stańczak, Protocol Coordinator Tim Beiko, core researchers Carl Beek and Julian Ma, as well as Josh Stark, a veteran who played a major role in The Merge and Pectra upgrades.
This is not a sudden accumulation of isolated personnel shifts, but rather part of a systematic internal adjustment initiated by EF since mid-2025. In March 2026, EF released a 38-page new mission statement (Mandate), explicitly stating that the Foundation’s role would shift from "primary guardian" to "one of many guardians," with plans to gradually reduce its centralized influence. EF even created a "SOURCE SEPPUKU LICENSE" meme to signal its commitment to self-restraint.
According to multiple community sources, this wave of departures is linked to disagreements sparked by the Mandate document. Reports suggest the Foundation required internal members to sign off on the document, and those unwilling or unable to fully embrace the new strategic direction chose to leave. Structural factors such as insufficient compensation and aggressive recruitment from new public chains also contributed to the talent outflow.
What Changes Are Happening Among Core Developers and Institutional Capital?
Behind these personnel changes, there are also observable shifts in the size of Ethereum’s developer community and capital flows. Token Terminal data shows that the number of Ethereum core developers dropped from 225 in May 2025 to 169 in May 2026, though it has rebounded by 63% over the past month. The total number of developers across the Ethereum ecosystem is approximately 9,744, which currently trails the overall developer count in the Solana ecosystem.
At the institutional level, capital flows are equally noteworthy. Goldman Sachs has reduced its BlackRock ETHA position by about 70%, and Harvard’s endowment fund has liquidated its $87 million Ethereum ETF holdings. EF itself recently withdrew 21,271 ETH (about $49.6 million) from the Lido staking pool for operational support and asset reallocation. The simultaneous reduction in exposure by three different types of participants reflects a cautious stance from capital markets toward Ethereum at this juncture.
Why Was the Glamsterdam Upgrade Delayed from June to Q3 2026?
The Glamsterdam upgrade, originally scheduled for June 2026, is now expected to go live on mainnet in Q3 2026. The primary reason for the delay is that engineering progress on protocol-level proposer-builder separation (ePBS) has fallen behind schedule.
ePBS is the most structurally significant component of Glamsterdam, aiming to separate block building from block proposing at the protocol level and thus reduce MEV-related centralization risks. However, in practice, ePBS still faces interoperability challenges between consensus clients and execution clients on multiple testnets. As of the April 2026 core developer meeting, the general development network (the first environment where all Glamsterdam components coexist) had just been approved for launch, lagging behind the original timeline.
Glamsterdam builds on the foundations of the Pectra (May 2025) and Fusaka (December 2025) upgrades. Pectra introduced EIP-7702 account abstraction, while Fusaka implemented PeerDAS data availability sampling, paving the way for Glamsterdam’s scaling goals. After the upgrade, Ethereum’s target gas limit will be set at 200 million, a substantial increase from the current limit of about 60 million.
How Will This Upgrade Delay Affect Ethereum’s Competitive Landscape?
The delay of Glamsterdam puts Ethereum under more direct competitive pressure from other public chains. As of May 2026, weekly DEX trading volumes on Ethereum and Solana have both approached $45 billion, with the gap in trading activity continuing to narrow.
From a roadmap perspective, Ethereum and Solana represent two distinct scaling philosophies. Ethereum adopts a modular, layered architecture—mainnet as the settlement layer, with Layer 2 networks handling execution—while Solana pursues a monolithic high-performance approach, processing execution, transactions, and settlement all on a single layer. In 2026, Solana has continued deploying the Firedancer client, now running on about 22% of staked tokens, reducing single-client system risk. In 2025, Solana also locked in the Alpenglow consensus overhaul.
For Ethereum, the Q3 window for Glamsterdam provides more time for ePBS engineering validation but also intensifies internal debates over the boundaries between L2 scaling and L1 capabilities. Glamsterdam was originally intended to signal to the market that "L1 can be faster," but the delay has somewhat diminished the immediacy of that message.
What Does Vitalik’s Proposed Hegotá Privacy Upgrade Entail?
While Glamsterdam is still in progress, Ethereum’s next major upgrade, Hegotá, has entered the finalization phase for its feature set. In mid-May 2026, Vitalik Buterin released a short-term privacy roadmap centered on Hegotá, with four main modules: FOCIL, Keyed Nonces, Kohaku, and Private Reads. These features put privacy and censorship resistance back at the forefront of Ethereum’s upgrade agenda.
FOCIL (Fork Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) is the flagship protocol-level feature confirmed for Hegotá, designed to mandate that validators include all valid transactions in blocks, thereby reducing transaction censorship risk at the protocol level. EIP-8250 is also confirmed for Hegotá, providing users with stronger on-chain privacy options. Additionally, EIP-8141 native account abstraction is under "consideration for inclusion" (CFI). If adopted, features such as smart accounts and sponsored transactions will receive more systematic protocol-level support.
Vitalik has publicly stated that Ethereum’s smart accounts could be deployed at the protocol level within a year via Hegotá—marking a milestone for account abstraction since its first discussion in 2016. However, the precise timeline for Hegotá remains uncertain and will need to be adjusted based on Glamsterdam’s launch date.
How Will Ethereum’s Upgrade Roadmap Evolve Over the Next Year?
Bringing all this together, Ethereum’s 2026 upgrade roadmap is taking on a clear phased structure. Q3 will see the Glamsterdam upgrade, delivering ePBS and a 200 million gas limit, with a focus on addressing L1 block construction and performance bottlenecks. Preparations for the Hegotá upgrade will follow, expected to activate in late 2026 or early 2027, prioritizing privacy, censorship resistance, and protocol-level account abstraction.
In the long term, the Ethereum Foundation has launched the "Lean Ethereum" post-quantum security initiative, aiming to deploy post-quantum cryptography between 2028 and 2032 to defend the network against quantum computing attacks.
Ethereum’s upgrade cadence has shifted from "major version leaps" to "more frequent, smaller forks." This change reduces the technical risk of each individual upgrade but places higher demands on coordination mechanisms. The relationship between personnel changes from the Foundation’s restructuring and upgrade delays remains a core topic of ongoing community scrutiny.
Summary
The first half of 2026 has seen intensive and profound personnel changes at the Ethereum Foundation, driven mainly by the Mandate document’s organizational streamlining and strategic disagreements among core members. The number of core developers dropped from 225 to 169, while institutions and the Foundation itself simultaneously reduced their positions. The Glamsterdam upgrade, delayed from June to Q3 due to ePBS engineering setbacks, makes the 200 million gas limit the central metric for scaling. Vitalik is prioritizing privacy and censorship resistance features such as FOCIL, EIP-8250, and native account abstraction in the Hegotá upgrade. In the public chain race, Ethereum maintains its lead through modular architecture and deep liquidity, but the adjustment in upgrade cadence brings more direct challenges to its single-chain performance narrative. The key variables ahead are whether the new protocol core team can ensure a smooth transition, and whether Glamsterdam and Hegotá can be delivered on schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What are the key features of the Glamsterdam upgrade?
Glamsterdam centers on ePBS (protocol-level proposer-builder separation) and a 200 million gas limit. ePBS aims to separate block building from block proposing at the protocol level, reducing MEV centralization risks and improving transaction censorship issues. The upgrade will significantly boost network throughput.
Why is the Ethereum Foundation experiencing large-scale personnel changes?
The wave of departures is happening as EF advances its Mandate-driven organizational restructuring, with the Foundation seeking to gradually reduce its centralized role and become "one of many guardians." Some core members disagreed with the new strategic direction or organizational requirements and chose to leave. Insufficient compensation and external talent poaching are also contributing factors.
What are the main features of the Hegotá upgrade?
Hegotá focuses on privacy and censorship resistance, with core features including FOCIL (forced transaction inclusion), EIP-8250 privacy enhancements, and EIP-8141 native account abstraction (still under discussion). Vitalik has stated that smart accounts are likely to be deployed at the protocol level through Hegotá.
What are the respective strengths of Ethereum and Solana in the public chain competition?
Ethereum’s strengths lie in its modular, layered architecture, deep liquidity, and robust DeFi and stablecoin infrastructure, with mainnet recognized by institutions as a secure settlement layer. Solana’s advantage is its monolithic high-performance design, offering low fees and high throughput, making it well-suited for high-frequency trading and consumer applications.
What is the timeline for Ethereum’s 2026 upgrade roadmap?
Glamsterdam is expected to activate in Q3 2026, focusing on ePBS and raising the gas limit. The Hegotá upgrade will follow, rolling out protocol-level privacy, censorship resistance, and account abstraction features. There is a substantial interval between the two upgrades to allow for thorough testing and development.
