rewrite this title Protocol Cluster Updates: May 2026 | Ethereum Foundation Blog

A semi-regular gathering of Ethereum core devs from various client teams, or interop, recently took place in Svalbard, Norway. Over the week-long event, teams focused on hardening and preparation for the next upgrade, Glamsterdam.

Several important milestones came out of the week, including:

200M gas limit floor established: Credible post-Glamsterdam target derived from convergence of ePBS, BAL optimizations, and EIP-8037 repricingePBS stabilized: Multi-client Glamsterdam-devnet running with external builders pipeline tested end-to-end across nearly all clientsEIP-8037 finalized: Fixed cost_per_state_byte adopted; full repricing numbers delivered by Friday on bal-devnet-6Hegotá groundwork laid: FOCIL prototypes are functional; native AA requirements were scoped; the multi-client devnet is the immediate next step

The interop also marked the start of a leadership transition for the Ethereum Foundation Protocol cluster. The new cluster leads will be:

Will CorcoranKev WedderburnFredrik

Team evolution

Over the last year since the announcement of the Protocol Cluster, Barnabé Monnot, Tim Beiko, and Alex Stokes have given a tremendous amount to the ecosystem through their leadership.

While Barnabé and Tim are moving on from the Ethereum Foundation soon and Alex Stokes will be on sabbatical, the Protocol cluster as it exists today is in large part due to their work. Under their coordination, Protocol launched tracks, and helped to ship Fusaka to mainnet in December 2025, introducing PeerDAS and raising the mainnet gas limit on the path to 200M and beyond.

Tim, Barnabé, and Alex shaped Protocol in ways that will outlast their time as cluster leads. We’re grateful, and we’re looking forward to what each of them takes on next.

About the new Protocol Cluster leads

These team changes are already underway. At Interop, there were several impromptu conversations and strategic meetings between the incoming and outgoing groups, the perfect setting to begin this transition without distracting from hardening and shipping Glamsterdam. More about the new Protocol Cluster leads:

Will Corcoran. Will is a Research Coordinator within Protocol, with broad cross-team and cross-cluster visibility through his work on zkVM proving, post-quantum consensus, and the Fast Confirmation Rule. He has facilitated numerous community calls, breakout rooms, and in-person protocol events, giving him an operational understanding of how Protocol’s efforts interconnect.

Kev Wedderburn. Kev leads the zkEVM team and brings deep expertise at the intersection of research and engineering, along with a first-principles approach to technical decision-making.

Fredrik. Fredrik leads Protocol Security, the Trillion Dollar Security project, and has been deeply involved in cross-cluster work.

What to expect

The immediate focus is shipping Glamsterdam, continuing preparations for Hegotà, and advancing the Strawmap.

Glamsterdam devnets are now live, and scoping for Hegotà is well underway with FOCIL scheduled for inclusion as a headliner on the CL side. Stay tuned for more Protocol cluster updates from Will, Kev, and Fredrik in the coming weeks!