EVERYTHING
According to Cointelegraph, the blockchain industry is entering a phase of deep architectural refinement as major networks prepare for significant upgrades in 2026. These updates focus on solving long-standing issues regarding network congestion, transaction finality, and the concentration of power among specialized infrastructure providers.
Ethereum's move toward ePBS
One of the most anticipated shifts for Ethereum involves the implementation of enshrined proposer-builder separation (ePBS). This protocol change aims to address concerns regarding Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) and the centralization of transaction ordering. Currently, many validators rely on a small group of specialized builders, which can lead to censorship risks.
By pulling block building back into the protocol, ePBS seeks to make the process more transparent. However, experts suggest it is an incremental step rather than a total fix. Pavan Kaur, a Solana Foundation judge and founder of RuleSpark, noted that while ePBS improves accountability, certain practices like sandwich attacks may simply migrate to different parts of the ecosystem rather than disappearing entirely.
Solana's Alpenglow consensus upgrade
Solana is preparing for its most significant consensus overhaul to date with the upcoming Alpenglow upgrade. Expected to ship alongside the Agave 4.1 validator client in late 2026, Alpenglow replaces the existing TowerBFT-based mechanism with a new voting component called Votor. This transition is designed to drastically improve network performance by targeting finality times of roughly 100-150 milliseconds under optimal conditions, a massive leap from the current 12.8 seconds.
Key benefits of the Alpenglow upgrade include:
- Dramatic reduction in transaction confirmation times.
- Removal of onchain vote transactions to streamline validator communication.
- Improved network efficiency and reduced load during high activity periods.
- Cleaner telemetry for institutional investors underwriting SOL as a treasury asset.
Arun Krishnakumar, vice president of institutional capital at R3, suggests that these improvements will reinforce the thesis of creating internet capital markets by providing the reliability required by traditional finance.
Base network performance enhancements
Meanwhile, Base has already begun rolling out its Beryl hard fork to tighten network performance. Following a brief sequencer-related outage where block production stalled for 2 hours, the team is using the incident as a learning opportunity to strengthen the platform's reliability. The Beryl update introduces several critical features:
- The B20 native token standard for improved compatibility.
- A reduction in withdrawal finality from seven days down to five days.
- Integration with Reth V2 to decrease node storage requirements and boost execution efficiency.
These collective upgrades across the major ecosystems signal a shift toward professionalizing blockchain infrastructure to support 24/7 global finance.