Ethereum’s Upcoming Forks Expected to Boost Scalability and Efficiency

Ethereum’s planned 2026 hard forks, Glamsterdam and Hegota, aim to enhance scalability and security, focusing on enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and improved gas efficiency.

These upgrades are critical for Ethereum’s long-term growth, impacting Layer 1 and Layer 2 ecosystems, without confirmed specifics on gas limits or transaction speeds.

Market Insights and Community Reactions to Ethereum Upgrades

Ethereum anticipates introducing the Glamsterdam fork by 2026, aiming to enhance scalability and censorship resistance. This initiative is led by core developers such as Vitalik Buterin. The roadmap underscores gas optimizations and proposer-builder separation as primary enhancements.

The changes will influence validator revenue structures and fee markets, aiming for improved decentralization and efficiency. These upgrades are not estimated to attain 10,000 transactions per second by 2026, contrary to some speculative reports. However, increased block capacity and privacy with interoperability strides are expected.

Tim Beiko, Core Dev Coordinator, Ethereum, “Glamsterdam will focus on immediate improvements in scalability and efficiency, primarily through gas optimizations and the ‘Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation’ (ePBS).” – Binance Dev Note Summary

Historical Context, Price Data, and Expert Insights

Did you know? Ethereum’s historical upgrades like the Merge transitioned the network from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake, influencing today’s scalability roadmap, echoing past radical infrastructure overhauls.

As of December 25, 2025, Ethereum’s market cap stands at $355.52 billion, while its price hovers around $2,945.62, according to CoinMarketCap. The 24-hour trading volume experiences a drop of 35.25%, yet Ethereum dominates 11.99% of the cryptocurrency market. Despite recent downturns over the past three months, Ethereum has seen a slight recovery of 3.74% in the last week.

According to insights from the Coincu research team, these planned upgrades could bolster Ethereum’s position as a leading smart contract platform. Improvements in gas efficiency and blockchain processing are poised to support more extensive use cases, potentially impacting decentralized finance and Layer 2 solutions.