Ethereum developers officially confirmed the next big 2026 upgrade name: Hegota, which will follow the planned Glamsterdam hard fork. ETH traded largely range-bound on the day of the news, as traders focused more on macro signals and BTC dominance than long-range technical plans. Still, this roadmap matters for anyone who uses Ethereum, as it shapes future fees, network speed, and the perceived weight of running or relying on the chain.
Hegota aligns with Ethereum’s new twice-a-year upgrade rhythm, which already includes upcoming forks such as Pectra and Fusaka in 2025 and Glamsterdam in 2026. According to FastBull, this predictable schedule lets developers ship smaller, safer upgrades instead of giant, risky overhauls every few years.
What Is the Hegota Upgrade and Why Should ETH Holders Care?
Hegota combines two sides of Ethereum’s brain: the execution layer, “Bogota” (where transactions and smart contracts run), and the consensus layer, “Heze” (where validators agree on the chain) – a nice continuation of the Consensus layer tradition of naming upgrades after stars. Think of it like upgrading both the engine and the steering system of the same car in one coordinated visit to the garage. According to Yellow.com, developers plan to release it in late 2026, after Glamsterdam.
The big decision still ahead is which feature becomes the “headline” of Hegota. Developers are expected to choose in early 2026, with front-runners like Verkle Trees and state/history expiry on the table, according to FastBull. These sound technical, but they primarily address one everyday problem: Ethereum is becoming too large and too resource-intensive to store indefinitely.
Every transaction, NFT mint, DeFi trade, and meme coin adds to Ethereum’s “state”, the live database that nodes keep. Look, if you’ve tried to sync a full node lately, you know it’s becoming a nightmare for anyone without a dedicated server rack. Over the years, this “state bloat” has made it harder and more expensive to run a full node, which risks turning Ethereum into a network that only big players can afford to secure. The Hegota discussion focuses on trimming that weight so more regular users and smaller operators can still participate.
Having listened to the ACDE #226 call on Thursday, the urgency for Hegota is clear. As we push toward the 180 million gas limit target by late 2026, the current Merkle Patricia tree structure simply won’t hold the weight. Hegota’s Verkle Tree integration is no longer a ‘nice-to-have’; it’s the only way to keep solo staking viable as throughput triples. So I think that’s the likely outcome.
If you want a feel for how protocol choices shape real-world use, check our story on projects moving between layer‑2s and the Ethereum Mainnet. Upgrades like Hegota decide how attractive the mainnet looks over the next decade.
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How Could Hegota Change Fees, DeFi, and Ethereum’s Place in Crypto?
Ethereum announced Hegota, its next major upgrade planned for H2 2026.
Hegota focuses on lower hardware requirements via Verkle Trees, gradual cleanup of outdated chain data, and EVM optimizations that make smart contracts faster and cheaper.
The goal is simple: make Ethereum… pic.twitter.com/iQ0m8L2frz
— Yelay (@YieldLayer) December 21, 2025
To understand why this matters to your wallet, imagine Ethereum as a city where every building’s blueprint must stay on file forever. Verkle Trees and state/history expiry aim to compress or eventually archive old data so the city hall doesn’t collapse under paperwork. If developers ship these changes cleanly, Ethereum becomes lighter, easier to run, and better prepared for another wave of users in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming.
That feeds into Ethereum’s bigger story: staying the default smart contract platform while rivals pitch faster, cheaper alternatives. Institutions that watch long‑term network health — like those behind products similar to JPMorgan’s Ethereum fund — care a lot about this. A chain that scales its data responsibly looks more durable for 5–10 year investment timelines.
Hegota also lands after Glamsterdam, which focuses on aspects such as proposer-builder separation (ePBS), access lists, and gas repricing, according to ForkLog. Those changes affect how blocks get built and how gas is charged, which trickles down into what you actually pay when you swap tokens on a DEX or mint an NFT. Hegota then builds on that foundation, tightening data storage rather than rewriting the fee rules from scratch.
Developers on recent calls emphasized that they want to maintain the twice-yearly cycle, according to TodayOnChain. For you, that means fewer surprise “big bang” events and more steady, predictable improvements — helpful if you manage positions through upgrades or run DeFi strategies on-chain.
If you follow ETH price action and how upgrades affect volatility, you may also want to read our coverage of Ethereum crashes and liquidations. Protocol changes do not move price alone, but they shape the backdrop for every bull or bear run.
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What Are the Risks and How Should Everyday Users Prepare?
Ethereum upgrades always carry technical risk. Developers test heavily, but any change that touches how data is stored or pruned needs extreme care. Mistakes in state expiry or data handling can break dapps, confuse node operators, or create edge cases that scammers exploit.
As a user, you do not need to predict every EIP detail. You do need a simple playbook. Use reputable wallets. Stick to major DeFi protocols with active teams. Avoid deploying long-term, set-and-forget strategies around hard fork dates if you do not understand what they change.
From an investment angle, Hegota is a long‑horizon story. It will not suddenly slash gas tomorrow or guarantee a higher ETH price. Markets react more to macro moves, leverage imbalances, and narratives, as we covered in our piece on Ethereum leverage. Treat Hegota as part of the thesis that Ethereum continues to perform the necessary maintenance work required for long-term survival.
For now, the best move is simple: stay informed, avoid overreacting to upgrade headlines, and use this roadmap as one more reason to size your ETH and DeFi exposure safely. If developers ship Hegota as planned, Ethereum ends 2026 lighter, more efficient, and better positioned for whatever the next cycle throws at it.
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The post Ethereum’s 2026 ‘Hegota’ Upgrade Targets State Bloat and Fees appeared first on 99Bitcoins.
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