The Ethereum Foundation’s Protocol cluster has set a December 2029 target for making Ethereum’s Layer 1 quantum-resistant across execution, consensus and data, using that deadline to narrow the scope of Hegotá, the upgrade being planned after Glamsterdam.
In a companion assessment, the cluster graded all 62 Ethereum Improvement Proposals submitted for Hegotá. Only two received the “must ship” designation: EIP-7805, known as FOCIL, and EIP-8141, which introduces Frame Transactions. The controversial EIP to reduce the validator rewards was declined.
The cluster defines S-tier as “must ship” and A-tier as “high priority, expected to ship.” B-tier proposals sit “on the bubble” and are considered individually only after devnets containing all S- and A-tier proposals are functional and stable and time remains before work moves to I*.
The ranking is not a final network-wide scope decision. The Foundation described it as “one input to Hegotá scoping,” albeit the first unified tier list from the Protocol cluster. Roughly 60 researchers and engineers across its nine teams contributed 397 grades before contested proposals were discussed.
The quantum target is fixed rather than tied to an estimated arrival date for a cryptographically capable quantum computer. The cluster said it is planning for “Q-day” as early as 2030, while acknowledging that most estimates put it later and that it may never arrive. It will treat the deadline as non-negotiable at least until a reassessment with outside experts in January 2027.
