2026-01-17 05:35:00

Ethereum is planning a systematic upgrade. According to the latest developer roadmap, by 2026, Ethereum will begin addressing some shortcomings in self-sovereignty and decentralization over the past decade.

What is the core idea of this upgrade? It mainly focuses on several technical directions:

First, lowering the barrier to running full nodes. By applying ZK-EVM zero-knowledge proofs and BAL technology, ordinary users can more easily operate nodes independently without relying on centralized RPC services.

Second, strengthening data authenticity verification. Using lightweight verification tools like Helios, users can independently verify the authenticity of RPC-returned data to ensure they are not fed fake data.

Third, privacy protection upgrades. Introducing privacy-enhancing technologies such as ORAM and PIR to protect users' query privacy during interactions with RPC.

The logic of this plan is very clear — enabling everyone to become an independent participant in the network, rather than being forced to trust a centralized node. This is also the direction Ethereum, as Web3 infrastructure, needs to continuously pursue.

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SleepyValidator

· 11h ago

Sounds good, but honestly, whether it can truly be implemented by 2026 is still uncertain. However, I do agree that lowering the node entry barrier is the right direction. Right now, most people still rely on Infura and Alchemy. I'm quite concerned about privacy protection. It would be great if RPC could truly prevent my transactions from being queried. I'm just worried it's another developer's big talk. Let's see if we can push the roadmap forward by 30% this year. That makes sense. Isn't true decentralization supposed to be like this—everyone is a node? Now, these major node providers are making a fortune. Ordinary users should be given some opportunities.

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SatoshiChallenger

· 11h ago

Ironically, we still have to rely on centralized RPC until 2026. This "fix" is a bit late. Data shows that every time there's a promise of "decentralization soon," it has never been fulfilled. But let's just assume it can happen this time. ZK-EVM and privacy technologies are indeed impressive, but the question is, can ordinary people adopt them? Or will it once again become a game for high-level users? Interesting, it took ten years to realize we've gone off track. The speed of this reflection... Objectively speaking, for Bitcoin to truly allow everyone to verify, ETH first needs to become cheap enough for people to be willing to run nodes. And now? It's lightweight, privacy-focused, and decentralized—each description sounds perfect, but how feasible is it to actually implement? When these things launch in 2026, I might believe it then.

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ColdWalletGuardian

· 11h ago

Honestly, if this upgrade can really be implemented, it would be incredible. It's been all promises in PPTs. I just want to ask, how far is 2026... Lowering the threshold is a good thing, but will ordinary users really run nodes themselves? I'm skeptical. With both privacy and verification involved, can this tech stack really run stably? Let me see if there's a mainnet test first, and not just another research report.

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BlockchainWorker

· 11h ago

At the end of the day, it's about wanting to shed dependence on RPC. It should have been done this way a long time ago. However, how many regular users are willing to run their own nodes... If zero-knowledge proofs are properly applied in this wave, it would indeed be impressive. Privacy needs to be well handled.

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TokenomicsPolice

· 11h ago

Honestly, this set of things sounds good, but you're only planning to fix these infrastructure vulnerabilities in 2026? That's a bit late... Wait, are you still being forced to trust RPCs now? I thought this was resolved long ago. Both ZK and privacy tools, but in the end, it's all about adoption rate. Don't let it become something that's praised but not popular. Hopefully, this won't be another missed deadline. I really don't trust Ethereum's timeline. True decentralization starts with users being willing to run nodes. Lowering the barrier isn't enough; it also has to seem worthwhile.

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HodlAndChill

· 11h ago

Basically, it's about wanting to free ourselves from the control of centralized RPCs. This should have been done a long time ago. If only the barrier could be lowered, that would be great. Running nodes is still too complicated right now; let's see if it can work out. By 2026, we have two more years to wait. I'm looking forward to seeing if this round of updates can really be implemented. Everyone being able to run a node sounds ideal, but the key is that hardware requirements need to keep up. Are ZK proofs reliable? It feels like every time they say it's very impressive, but in the end, it still depends on actual performance. I'm most concerned about privacy protection. Currently, all queries are being tracked to death, so this definitely needs to change. Those previous promises were also made the same way. Let's wait and see—don't want another PPT upgrade.

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MemeEchoer

· 11h ago

Waiting until 2026 to take action? The issue of RPC centralization should have been addressed long ago. Finally, someone is taking decentralization seriously. Lowering the node entry barrier is indeed a good move, but can it really be popularized? Another bunch of new technical terms; let's see if they can actually run first. I'm optimistic about privacy; after all, all queries are currently being monitored. They keep talking about decentralization every day, but they're still using Infura's RPC.

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