The Ethereum Foundation has announced that it is targeting faster transactions, smarter wallets, better cross-chain interoperability, and quantum-resistant security as its “protocol priorities” in 2026.
In a statement published on Wednesday, the Ethereum Foundation outlined several goals, including continuing to escalate the gas cap – the maximum amount of computational work a block can handle – “towards and beyond” 100 million, which is a major topic of discussion among the Ethereum community in 2025.
Some members of the Ethereum community predict that the gas limit will escalate significantly this year. In November, Ethereum educator Anthony Sassano said that the goal of significantly increasing the Ethereum gas cap to 180 million in 2026 was a base case, not a best case scenario.
“Post-quantum readiness” is Ethereum’s main goal
The Foundation has identified the modernization of the Glamsterdam network scheduled for the first half of 2026 as its main priority. As part of a broader security initiative, it has also placed an emphasis on long-term post-quantum preparedness.
On January 24, Ethereum researcher Justin Drake he said in X’s post that the foundation “formed a new Post-Quantum (PQ) team.”
“Today marks a shift in the Ethereum Foundation’s long-term quantum strategy,” Drake said.
The Ethereum Foundation said it will also focus on improving user experience in 2026, with an emphasis on improving sharp wallets through native account abstraction and enabling smoother interactions between blockchains through interoperability.
“Smooth, trust-minimized interactions between L2 layers remain the goal, and we are getting closer every day. Continued progress towards faster L1 confirmations and faster L2 settlement times directly proves this.”
The foundation said 2025 was one of its “most productive years”, citing two major network upgrades, Pectra and Fusaka, and the community raising the gas limit from 30 to 60 million between upgrades for the first time since 2021.
Buterin’s large plans for Ethereum and artificial intelligence
Mario Havel of the Ethereum Foundation he said on X’s post on Wednesday: “It took us a while to post the announcement because we were putting together our biggest curriculum yet.”
Related: Ethereum Recovers 42% of Solana Outflows – DeFi Report
This comes just days after Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared his latest vision for the intersection of Ethereum with artificial intelligence on February 10. Buterin explained that he sees the two working together to improve markets, financial security and human agency.
Buterin said his broader vision for the future of artificial intelligence is about empowering humans, not replacing them, although he said in the compact term it includes many more “ordinary” ideas.
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