# Ethereum Protocol Priorities 2026

> Ethereum priorities for 2026 focus on three strategic tracks: Scale, Improve UX, and Harden the L1.

**Published by:** [ETH Daily](https://ethdaily.io/)
**Published on:** 2026-02-19
**Categories:** news, 2026, february2026
**URL:** https://ethdaily.io/886

## Content

Quick TakeEthereum Protocol Priorities for 2026.Base Unified Stack introduced.OpenAI introduces EVM Bench.Privacy Pools supports BOLD.Ethereum Protocol Priorities 2026Listen to this episode from Ethereum News on Spotify. The EF publishes Ethereum Protocol Priorities for 2026. Base moves from the OP Stack. OpenAI introduces EVM Bench. And Privacy Pools supports the BOLD stablecoin. Read more: https://ethdaily.io/886 Borrow against ETH at the lowest fixed rates in DeFi.https://spotify.comSponsored byBorrow against ETH at the lowest fixed rates in DeFi. Liquity V2 lets you use ETH as collateral to mint BOLD, the Ethereum native dollar. Learn more at liquity.orgEthereum Protocol Priorities 2026The Ethereum Foundation Protocol team published its 2026 priorities, focused on three strategic tracks: Scale, Improve UX, and Harden the L1. The Scale track, led by Ansgar, Marius, and Raúl, unifies L1 execution scaling and L2 blob/data availability efforts. It focuses on raising gas limits, advancing ePBS, and increasing blob capacity. The Improve UX track, led by Barnabé and Matt, centers on native account abstraction and interoperability. The goal is to make smart contract wallets the default and enable seamless, trust-minimized interactions across L2s. The newly introduced Harden the L1 track, led by Fredrik, Parithosh, and Thomas, focuses on safeguarding Ethereum’s core guarantees. The 2026 roadmap aims to scale aggressively while maintaining security, decentralization, and censorship resistance.Base Introduces Unified StackBase, the OP Stack-based Layer 2 by Coinbase, announced it is transitioning away from the OP Stack to operate on its own consolidated infrastructure, the Unified Base Stack. The move shifts Base from Optimism’s optimistic proof system toward validity-based proofs to enable faster finality. Base said that it will remain a Stage 1 decentralized rollup and will expand its Security Council. The move aims accelerate the frequency of high-impact upgrades and simplify the protocol to reduce technical complexity and external dependencies. Base will consolidate key infrastructure components, including the sequencer, into a single streamlined codebase. The change means Optimism will lose the largest revenue contributor, as Base accounts for more than 75% of Superchain revenue. The migration will occur through a series of hard forks. No action is required from users.OpenAI Introduces EVM BenchOpenAI has introduced EVMbench, a benchmark created with Paradigm to measure how well AI agents can identify, fix, and exploit smart contract vulnerabilities. Built from 120 high-severity issues across 40 audits, primarily from Code4rena audit competitions, the benchmark evaluates agents in three modes: detecting, patching, and exploiting. The detection model screens known flaws in contract repositories. The patch model fixes the flaws without breaking functionality. And the exploit model runs end-to-end fund-draining attacks in a sandboxed environment. OpenAI found that agents perform best at exploitation, where objectives are explicit.Privacy Pools Supports BOLDPrivacy Pools, an onchain privacy protocol, launched support for BOLD, the decentralized stablecoin by Liquity Protocol. The integration brings privacy to the trustless, Ethereum-native stablecoin. BOLD is fully backed by ETH and ETH LST collateral. Privacy Pools allows users to deposit assets and later withdraw them to an unlinked address, leveraging zero-knowledge proofs to ensure deposits and withdrawals cannot be connected, as long as funds remain in the pool for a minimum required period. Privacy Pools recently surpassed $10 million in total deposits. Other NewsSolidity v0.8.34 security releaseOctant v2 goes liveEthDenver Day 1EtherFi migrates to OP MainnetLIFI introduces ComposerHayden: Protect BRCAWorld introduces RemainderLean Ethereum mini-series Native key delegation for EOAsBalancer V3 launches LBPsCoinbase expands loan productsVitalik on Iran surveillanceLedger sideloading bugDisclaimer: Content is for informational purposes only, not endorsement or investment advice. The accuracy of information is not guaranteed.

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