Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin anticipates that next year’s Hegota upgrade will serve as the network’s final conventional fork, noting that subsequent development will focus on advanced cryptography and quantum-safe architectures.
Buterin shared this perspective in a September 27 blog post on his personal site, where he contrasted Ethereum’s state across 2015, 2025, and 2030 against the foundational Bitcoin (BTC) whitepaper.
The Fork a 2015 Developer Would Still Recognize
Placing Hegota within the schedule, Buterin referenced the Strawmap, which serves as a draft long-term roadmap for Ethereum.
“If you look at the Strawmap, Hegota – the fork planned for next year – is likely to be Ethereum’s last ‘normal’ fork, with features and technology that would be recognizable to someone in 2015,” he said.
Following Hegota, Buterin explained that all upcoming work will center on recursive STARKs—a specific form of cryptographic proof—alongside automated formal verification, highly optimized consensus mechanisms, and quantum-resistant safeguards.
These same elements of recursive STARKs and quantum-resistant cryptography were highlighted earlier this year in the Lean Ethereum framework he previously proposed.
Nevertheless, planning for Hegota remains in its early phases. The Hegota page on Ethereum.org currently outlines two intended modifications: frame transactions and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL).
Under FOCIL, a committee of validators generates transaction lists that block builders are required to respect. Meanwhile, frame transactions enable individual accounts to execute their custom verification logic while selecting quantum-resistant signatures.
Buterin’s 2030 Blueprint for Verification, Speed, and Privacy
Moving beyond the upgrade timeline, Buterin’s essay addresses Ethereum’s broader identity, suggesting that post-Lean updates will leave the network bearing the “blockchain” label largely for historical reasons.
To support this argument, he pointed out that nearly every foundational characteristic of a blockchain has undergone or is undergoing transformation. Verification provides a clear example: whereas the 2010 model required nodes to download and re-execute every individual block,
by 2030, he anticipates that nodes will instead rely on a cryptographic proof and Peer Data Availability Sampling (PeerDAS).
End users will experience these modifications through enhanced speed. His benchmarks target slots lasting roughly 4 to 8 seconds alongside finality achieved in about 8 to 32 seconds. For comparison, the 2015 iteration of Ethereum needed roughly 200 seconds to attain 12 confirmations.
Furthermore, Buterin suggested that decentralization—traditionally viewed strictly as a price paid for security—can occasionally enhance performance. Specifically, a decentralized network is capable of parallel data storage and computation.
He acknowledged that bringing this framework to life still presents unresolved obstacles. Crafting efficient and secure zero-knowledge proofs remains difficult, though artificial intelligence (AI) applications are already assisting in their optimization. Managing access to massive amounts of state data will likely prove to be the more formidable hurdle, he added.
Prior to the initiation of those efforts, Ethereum still has a pair of upgrades to deploy. Hegota is slated to arrive after Glamsterdam, which has its Sepolia testnet fork penciled in for October 6. Mainnet deployment for Glamsterdam is tracked on Ethereum.org for Q4 2026, though an exact date is not yet finalized.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What did Vitalik Buterin say about the Hegota upgrade?
Vitalik Buterin expects next year’s Hegota upgrade to be Ethereum’s final conventional fork featuring technology that a developer from 2015 would still recognize.
What changes are currently planned for Hegota?
Ethereum.org’s Hegota page currently lists two scheduled changes: Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL) and frame transactions.
What is expected for Ethereum after the Hegota upgrade?
Work following Hegota will focus on advanced cryptography, recursive STARKs, automated formal verification, highly optimized consensus, and quantum-safe designs.
When is the Glamsterdam upgrade scheduled?
Glamsterdam’s Sepolia testnet fork is scheduled for October 6, with its mainnet launch listed for Q4 2026 without a confirmed specific date.
