Ethereum's Hegotá Upgrade Timeline Delayed to Late 2026, Privacy Proposals Under Review

Ethereum developers have announced a delay in the timeline for the Hegotá upgrade, now expected in late 2026. This shift comes as they launch a new public testnet, Platåberget, for the Glamsterdam upgrade, which is set to be released in the fourth quarter of 2026.

Previously, the Ethereum Foundation had aimed for Glamsterdam to debut in the first half of 2026, with Hegotá following later that year. The introduction of Platåberget is crucial, as it provides a stable testing environment for developers and users to identify issues before the mainnet activation of Glamsterdam.

As part of the preparations for Hegotá, Ethereum researchers are currently assessing 66 proposals, with a focus on enhancing privacy features directly within the network's base layer. The centerpiece of these proposals is EIP-8141, known as Frame Transactions, which aims to enable gas fee abstraction from pooled funds, allowing privacy pools to manage their transaction fees without external intermediaries.

Other notable proposals include EIP-8182, which would create a native shared shielded pool for anonymous ETH and ERC-20 transfers, and EIP-8250, which introduces keyed nonces to prevent transaction correlation. FOCIL, or EIP-7805, is currently the only confirmed proposal for Hegotá, focusing on censorship resistance.

Developers have a two-week window to narrow down the proposals for Hegotá, with a final list expected by August 27, 2026. The upcoming upgrades represent a significant shift in Ethereum's approach to privacy, moving from third-party solutions to integrated protocol-level features.