Published: Feb 05, 2026 at 21:24
While prices crumble, the architectural future of the world’s second-largest blockchain is being radically rewritten.
On February 5, 2026, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin issued a blunt critique of the current ecosystem, stating, “We don’t friggin need more copypasta EVM chains.” His comments coincide with the formal unveiling of the “Glamsterdam” upgrade, a major hard fork scheduled for the first half of 2026 that aims to transform Ethereum from a congested ledger into a high-performance, parallel-processing powerhouse.
Ending the “L2 Fragmentation”
Buterin’s frustration stems from the explosion of “Layer 2” networks that he argues are merely duplicating existing tech without solving fundamental scalability. The “Glamsterdam” upgrade introduces EIP-7928 (Parallel Transaction Processing) and a massive gas limit increase from 60 million to 200 million. The goal is to make the mainnet efficient enough to handle the burgeoning “Agentic Economy,” where AI agents—rather than humans—execute millions of daily micro-transactions.
The EF leadership crisis
According to The Guardian, the technical pivot is happening against a backdrop of internal political drama. A leaked pitch from prominent developer Danny Ryan has exposed deep divisions within the Ethereum Foundation (EF). Ryan suggested that the foundation must “exercise a stronger voice” and adapt to the “American-shaped opportunity” presented by the pro-crypto administration in D.C. This move toward more centralized “leadership” is a sharp departure from the foundation’s decade-long ethos of radical decentralization.
For investors, the takeaway for 2026 is clear: Ethereum is no longer just “settlement”; it is fighting to become the high-speed operating system for the AI age, even if it means alienating its own fragmented ecosystem of side-chains.
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