The Ethereum Foundation's Protocol cluster has published a graded ranking of all 62 EIPs proposed for Hegotá, the network upgrade scheduled to follow Glamsterdam. This marks the first time the group has issued a unified assessment rather than allowing individual teams to post separate opinions.
The tier list serves as the reference point for which features are confirmed and which may be removed from the upgrade scope.
How the Grading System Works
The ranking sorts proposals into bands with specific delivery commitments. An S grade indicates a feature is essential to the fork, with schedule adjustments made to accommodate its scope. An A-tier proposal is expected to ship and can only be removed after all S-tier items are secure. B-tier proposals are admitted individually and typically require a prototype, sign-off, and finalized specification.
C-tier proposals fall below the inclusion line without being disqualified. DFI, meaning "declined for inclusion," reflects proposals rejected due to security risks or conflicts with future milestones. A separate TBD band holds proposals pending mainnet data needed to resolve unanswered questions.
Single S-Tier Proposal Emerges
Only FOCIL, filed as EIP-7805, earned the highest S-tier grade with unanimous support. The proposal enables any user to include an eligible transaction without relying on centralized block builders. It has been described as the locked-in consensus-layer priority for the upgrade.
Scoring Process Involved 60 Researchers
Approximately 60 researchers and engineers participated in the grading process, organized into nine teams plus individual domain experts. They completed 16 contribution templates, with 12 providing actual tier grades. The teams produced 397 grades across 62 proposals, averaging 6.4 grades per EIP, with the most contested items receiving as many as nine grades each.
The Protocol Cluster noted that Geth, the execution-layer client, will continue to publish its own independent list.
Quantum Resistance Target Set for 2029
The grading effort supports a longer-term goal outlined in the cluster's priorities post: making Ethereum's base layer quantum-resistant across execution, consensus, and data by December 2029. This target aligns with migration timelines independently set by Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft. The Ethereum Foundation acknowledges this is an aggressive assumption, noting that credible estimates place quantum computers capable of breaking current cryptography further in the future, if they arrive at all. The Foundation stated it will treat the deadline as non-negotiable at least until a January 2027 reassessment with outside experts.
To reach the 2029 target following a December 2026 Glamsterdam launch, development would need to maintain an average pace of 7.2 months per fork through a fifth upgrade designated L*.
Privacy Work Expected to Begin
The Protocol Cluster stated that privacy work should start during Hegotá to deliver native, trustless, censorship-resistant private transactions on Ethereum's base layer. Post-quantum privacy enhancements would follow at scale.
The cluster indicated that Hegotá implementation by client teams can realistically begin in late Q4 2026.
The Foundation's roadmap centers on five overlapping research arcs: fast finality, post-quantum cryptography, privacy, state optimization, and zkEVM technology.
