The Ethereum Foundation has unveiled its 2026 “protocol priorities,” highlighting faster transactions, smarter wallets, improved cross-chain interoperability and enhanced quantum security as key focus areas.
In a statement published Wednesday, the foundation said it plans to continue increasing Ethereum’s gas limit — the maximum amount of computational work each block can process — “toward and beyond” 100 million. The issue has been a central topic of debate within the Ethereum community throughout 2025, as developers weigh scalability gains against network stability and decentralization concerns.
Some members of the Ethereum community expect the gas limit to climb sharply this year. In November 2025, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano said that raising the network’s gas limit to 180 million in 2026 should be viewed as a baseline target rather than a best-case outcome.
“Post-quantum readiness” in focus
The Ethereum Foundation identified the upcoming Glamsterdam network upgrade — slated for the first half of 2026 — as a key milestone. It also highlighted “post-quantum readiness” as part of its broader trillion-dollar security initiative.
On Jan. 24, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake revealed in a post on X that the foundation had formed a new Post-Quantum (PQ) team.
“Today marks an inflection in the Ethereum Foundation’s long-term quantum strategy,” Drake said.
Beyond protocol-level security, the foundation said improving user experience will remain central in 2026. Plans include advancing smart wallets through native account abstraction and enabling smoother cross-chain interactions via greater interoperability.
“The goal remains seamless, trust-minimized cross-L2 interactions, and we’re getting closer day by day. Continued progress on faster L1 confirmations and shorter L2 settlement times directly supports this,” the foundation said.
It added that 2025 had been one of Ethereum’s “most productive years,” citing two major network upgrades — Pectra and Fusaka — as well as the community-driven increase in the gas limit from 30 million to 60 million, the first such change since 2021.
Buterin outlines Ethereum–AI vision
Mario Havel said in a post on X that the delayed announcement reflected the scale of the initiative. “It took us a while to push out the announcement because we were preparing the biggest curriculum so far,” he wrote.
The roadmap follows comments from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin on Feb. 10, in which he shared his latest thinking on Ethereum’s intersection with artificial intelligence. Buterin said he sees Ethereum and AI working together to improve markets, enhance financial safety and strengthen human agency.
While his long-term vision centers on empowering humans rather than replacing them, Buterin noted that near-term developments are likely to involve more incremental and practical applications.
