Ethereum’s 2026 roadmap focuses on two tracks: This means expanding rollup data capacity through blobs while also pushing base tier runs higher through gas limit changes.
These gas limit changes depend on validators moving from block re-execution to ZK proof-of-execution verification.
The first track is already locked in Fusaka, which was released on December 3, 2025.
face
According to ethereum.org, Fusaka has set up PeerDAS and BPO (Blob Parameters Only) changes that can increase Blob throughput in measured steps.
The second track is less mechanized as it relies on validator operations that must adhere to decentralization constraints, including EIP drafting, client implementation, bandwidth, block propagation, and proof of market structure.
PeerDAS positions itself as the most obvious “increase capacity” lever because it is designed to scale rollup data availability without forcing every node to download every blob.
According to ethereum.org, blob targets do not jump immediately upon activation and can double to a maximum of 48 every few weeks as developers monitor network health.
According to Optimism.io, the Optimism team configured the top case with a “minimum 48 Blob target per block,” with rollup-side throughput moving from around 220 to around 3,500 UOPS under that target.
Even in that framing, the real question for 2026 is whether demand will be reached by using Blob rather than bidding on L1 execution.
Another open question is whether p2p stability and node bandwidth will remain within operator tolerance as BPO increases its rollout.
On the execution side, Ethereum is already testing higher throughput through reconciliation rather than hard forks.
GasLimit.pics recently reported a gas limit of 60,000,000, with a 24-hour average of approximately 59,990,755 at the time indicated.
This level is important because it provides a baseline for what the verifier actually accepts.
It also exposes the limitations of “social scaling” before latency, validation load, mempool, and MEV pipeline burden become binding.
A simple way to translate the gas limit conversation into a throughput range is gas per second using Ethereum’s 12 second slot time (gas per second is equal to the gas limit divided by 12).
The numbers below explicitly keep base layer EVM transactions separate from rollup throughput needs.
| script | gas limit | gas/second (≒ gas/12) | Tx/sec at 21k gas | Tx/sec at 120k gas |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current adjustment level | 60,000,000 | 5,000,000 | ≒238 | ≒42 |
| 2× Gas Restriction Case | 120,000,000 | 10,000,000 | ≒476 | ≒83 |
| Advanced Case (Validation Changes Required) | 200,000,000 | 16,666,667 | ≒793 | ≒139 |
Glamsterdam
The planned 2026 upgrade branding bundles several implementation-focused ideas into “Glamsterdam,” an abbreviated slate discussed for proposer-builder separation (ePBS, EIP-7732), block-level access lists (BAL, EIP-7928), and general pricing adjustments (EIP-7904).
According to the EIP pages for EIP-7732, EIP-7928, and EIP-7904, each remains in draft form.
Price adjustments to address target gas schedule discrepancies that have persisted for several years.
EIP-7904 asserts that fixing incorrect compute pricing can increase available throughput while acknowledging the reality of contracts hardcoding DoS risks and gas assumptions.
BAL consists of piping for parallel processing.
The EIP estimates the average compressed BAL size to be about 70-72 KiB as overhead, citing parallel disk reads, parallel transaction verification, parallel state-root computation, and “execution-free state updates” per EIP-7928.
In practice, these benefits are only realized when clients overcome real bottlenecks and adopt concurrency.
It also depends on whether additional data and verification steps avoid imposing latency.
ePBS is at the center of MEV and throughput discussions because it aims to separate execution verification and consensus verification in a timely manner according to EIP-7732.
This temporary leeway is also where new failure modes can emerge.
An academic paper on “The Free Options Problem” by ePBS estimates that option exercises occur in an average of about 0.82% of blocks in an 8-second options window, reaching about 6% on days of high volatility under modeled conditions, according to arXiv.
Ethereum in 2026
For planning for 2026, the study focuses attention on steady-state fee outcomes as well as vitality under stress.
A more structural bet behind the “very high” gas limit is the adoption of anti-ZK validators.
The Ethereum Foundation’s “Real-Time Proof” roadmap outlines a step-by-step path for a small set of validators to initially run the ZK client in production.
Then, according to a July 10, 2025 post by the foundation on blog.ethereum.org, only after the majority stake is satisfied can the gas limit be raised to a level where proof verification takes place, replacing a rerun for actual verification on reasonable hardware.
According to blog.ethereum.org, the same post sets out constraints that are important for validity rather than narrative, including targeting 128-bit security (allowing 100 bits temporarily), a proof size of less than 300 KiB, and avoiding reliance on recursive wrappers with a trusted setup.
The implications of expansion are related to market proof. Real-time proof provisioning must be cheap and reliable, without focusing on a narrow set of proofs that reproduce today’s relay-style dependencies at other layers of the stack.
After Glamsterdam, “Hegota” is positioned as a late 2026 named slot that is still more about process than scope.
According to blog.ethereum.org, the Ethereum Foundation has announced a headliner timeline with a proposal period from January 8 to February 4, discussions and final decisions from February 5 to February 26, and a period for non-headliners.
The Hegotá meta-EIP exists as a draft (EIP-8081) and lists the items being considered unlocked, including FOCILs (EIP-7805) currently considered under EIP-8081.
The short-term reporting value of that schedule is that it creates dated decision points that investors and developers can track without having to infer commitments from code names.
The first is that the Hegota headliner offer closes on February 4th.