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Ethereum Foundation Protocol Cluster names two must-ship EIPs for Hegota
EF Protocol Cluster picks FOCIL and Frame Transactions as must-ship for Hegota.
On September 7, the Ethereum Foundation (EF) Protocol Cluster published priorities for the Hegota upgrade. Of 62 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), two received the top S-tier, or must-ship: FOCIL (EIP-7805) and Frame Transactions (EIP-8141).
https://x.com/ethereumfndn/status/2096976125511541198
At the same time, developers confirmed a goal to make Ethereum’s base layer quantum-resistant across the execution, consensus, and data layers by December 2029.
At the consensus layer, the main proposal will be FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists). A committee of several validators will form lists of transactions for inclusion. The block proposer must add operations that meet the set criteria; otherwise, attesting validators will not support the block.
The mechanism is designed to improve Ethereum’s resistance to censorship and make it harder for a dominant builder to block specific transactions.
At the execution layer, EIP-8141 Frame Transactions received must-ship status. It moves account abstraction directly into the protocol and makes account verification, transaction execution, and gas payment programmable.
Frame Transactions’ cryptographic flexibility is important for the post-quantum transition. Accounts will be able to switch to new signature schemes without a separate hard fork for each algorithm. Over time, this should allow abandoning secp256k1 keys that are vulnerable to quantum computers.
“Safely implementing both key proposals and testing how they interact is Hegota’s primary engineering commitment,” the Protocol Cluster said.
If either of the two S-tier EIPs is at risk, developers intend to adjust Hegota’s schedule rather than drop the proposal from the upgrade.
The classification reflects the collective position of about 60 researchers and engineers across nine teams in the Protocol Cluster. It is the first time they have published a unified ranking of proposals instead of separate team assessments.
All the key proposals listed are currently in Draft status. Their technical specifications may change during implementation and testing.
Post-quantum migration
Several proposals received an A-tier rating. They are <a href="https://xpertsstudio.com/a-planned-desktop-device-could-let-people-mine-bitcoin-at-home/” title=”A planned desktop device could let people mine Bitcoin at home”>planned for inclusion alongside the two main EIPs if developers do not need to reduce scope.
EIP-8369 describes transaction profiles to which FOCIL guarantees can apply. For now, this is an optional reference model; mandatory rules are to be defined in separate extensions.
Also in the A-tier are EIP-8250 and EIP-8272, which complement Frame Transactions:
- EIP-8250 introduces separate nonces for operations from a single sender. This would allow, for example, multiple users to share an address to improve privacy without blocking each other’s transactions;
- EIP-8272 will allow private operations to reference recent blockchain states in a format that FOCIL can verify.
EIP-8365 is directly tied to the quantum threat. The Protocol Cluster calls it the only directly post-quantum proposal that should be included already in Hegota; its implementation can begin without waiting for the full post-quantum consensus design.
Ethereum prepares for Q-day
The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol Cluster aims to achieve full L1 quantum resistance by December 2029.
“The timing of Q-day is under no one’s control. That is why we set a concrete goal instead of waiting for certainty,” the cluster explained.
The team emphasized that a Q-day scenario in 2030 is intentionally strict. Most credible forecasts push the emergence of such a threat further out. Nonetheless, the Protocol Cluster intends to treat the December 2029 deadline as binding at least until January 2027, when developers will reassess the progress of quantum computing with external experts.
According to the team, the chosen date aligns with post-quantum cryptography migration targets at Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft.
Developers will have to accelerate hard forks
The current roadmap envisions several sequential stages. After Glamsterdam comes Hegota, followed by updates with working labels I*, J*, K*, and L*.
I* is set to introduce a registry of post-quantum public keys. J* should provide minimally Q-day. At this stage, developers plan to implement a post-quantum mechanism at the consensus layer, leanDA data sampling, and leanSPHINCS transactions at the execution layer
This is temporary protection with reduced guarantees, intended to keep the network operating if a quantum threat appears before the full migration is completed. Full resilience across all three layers remains the ultimate goal.
In the current Strawmap version, completion of the migration is in L*. However, developers are considering swapping K* and L*: post-quantum attestations could be moved one hard fork earlier, and mandatory zkEVM execution proofs pushed later.
If Glamsterdam ships in December 2026 and full protection must be delivered across five hard forks by December 2029, the average interval between upgrades would be just 7.2 months.
“Simply releasing hard forks one after another is not enough to meet December 2029,” the cluster noted.
Therefore, the next upgrades will be developed in parallel: while Hegota is being prepared, specifications for I* should mature, and research for J*–L* will continue simultaneously.
Earlier, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin called quantum resistance one of the areas whose priority has increased compared to the 2023 roadmap.
In July, the Ethereum Foundation published a long-term technology plan for the decentralized network through 2029.
A separate ForkLog article examines the stages of the new roadmap, why the blockchain needs post-quantum cryptography, and how industry participants reacted to the revised scaling timelines.
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Source: forklog.com