EF Protocol narrows the Hegotá fork agenda
The Ethereum Foundation Protocol cluster has published a unified tier list for Hegotá, ranking 62 Ethereum Improvement Proposals proposed for the fork. The list identifies 2 must-ship EIPs, 15 expected additions and 28 declined proposals, while leaving other items conditional or evidence-dependent. The post gives developers and EIP champions a clearer view of which changes are central to the fork and which still need prototypes, specifications or broader process.A single protocol view replaces separate team signals
EF Protocol said the Hegotá list is the first unified view from the cluster rather than a collection of per-team opinions. The post, published on the Ethereum Foundation Blog, describes input from about 60 people across research and engineering, including all nine teams and several individual domain experts.The process produced 397 tier grades across 62 EIPs. EF Protocol said 16 contribution templates were filled out, 12 of them included tier grades, and some contributors graded only the proposals where they had deep expertise. The average was 6.4 grades per EIP, with the most-discussed proposals drawing 9 grades.
That process matters because Hegotá scope is not being presented as a casual preference list. EF Protocol framed the post as a datapoint produced through independent grading, group calls and a 90-minute working session, while noting that Geth, as an execution-layer client, will still publish its own standalone tier list.
The tiers now carry delivery expectations
The most consequential part of the post is the meaning attached to each tier. EF Protocol defines S-tier as must ship: if an S item is at risk, the schedule adjusts before the scope does. A-tier is also high priority and expected to ship unless delivery reality forces a cut.B-tier is treated differently. Those EIPs are on the bubble and are not admitted in bulk; EF Protocol said they should be considered one at a time after devnets with all S- and A-tier EIPs are functional and stable. Most B-tier items carry explicit requirements such as a prototype, a sign-off and a settled specification.
C-tier items sit below the line but are not disqualified, while DFI means declined for inclusion with a structural rationale. TBD proposals are deliberately unranked until mainnet data can answer questions that cannot be resolved today. This converts the tier list into a fork-management tool, not merely a ranking exercise.
Two S-tier items and 15 A-tier items define the core
EF Protocol said 2 proposals are must-ship and 15 are expected to ship. The post does not treat all expected additions as isolated changes; it highlights package relationships that shape the core engineering work for Hegotá.One headliner package is EIP-7805, FOCIL, shipping with EIP-8369, VOPS Profiles for FOCIL Eligibility. Another is the Frames core: EIP-8141 for Frame Transactions, EIP-8250 for Keyed Nonces for Frame Transactions and EIP-8272 for Recent Roots for Frame Transactions. EF Protocol said delivering both headliners safely, and testing their interaction, is the fork’s core engineering commitment.
The A-tier also includes an extension package made up of EIP-7906, Transaction Assertions via State Diff Opcode; EIP-8298, SETCODEFROM Code Reuse Instruction; and EIP-8151, Account Code Restricted ecRecover. According to EF Protocol, the first directly hardens transactions, while the other two give an account a complete route away from k1 keys.
B, C and TBD proposals remain conditional
The middle of the list shows where EF Protocol sees possible value but unresolved delivery risk. The post names 8 B-tier proposals, 7 C-tier proposals and 2 TBD proposals, with many B-tier items blocked by concrete requirements rather than general skepticism.For consensus-layer EIPs, EIP-8198, Quick Slots, has the most demanding requirements on the list. EF Protocol said it needs specifications covering expected core protocol changes, a full-specification prototype, an in-depth assessment of downstream effects and sign-off that it does not complicate decoupled consensus. The stated concern is that slot time is load-bearing for timing assumptions across the protocol and ecosystem.
Other conditional items are more narrowly framed. EIP-8321, Hash-Chain RANDAO, needs the complete post-quantum consensus design. EIP-8146, Block Access List Sidecars, needs its observation deadline settled in specification. EIP-8237, Independent CL/EL Sync, needs a cost comparison against simpler alternatives and a delivery owner. The 2 TBD items, EIP-8368 and EIP-8372, are set to be evaluated together after Glamsterdam reaches mainnet and related state repricings can be assessed.
Declined proposals show a governance boundary
EF Protocol said 28 proposals were declined for inclusion, each with stated reasons. The DFI category includes proposals considered antithetical to CROPS, security risks, too prescriptive, intermediating, backward-incompatible, or dangerous to the path to J*.The post gives special attention to EIP-8363, Tapered Issuance Burn. EF Protocol said its unanimous DFI status is not a judgment on the merits of the proposal. Instead, the cluster said issuance policy touches every staker, every holder and the network’s long-run security budget, and that a fork scoping exercise is not the right venue to settle it.
That distinction is meaningful for Ethereum governance. The post says EF Protocol would expect the issue to move through a multi-node ecosystem process with technical rigor and broad engagement, and that the cluster intends to participate. In practice, the tier list separates protocol engineering readiness from broader economic policy decisions.
Conclusion
The Hegotá tier list gives Ethereum developers a more explicit map of what EF Protocol believes should define the fork, what may still qualify, and what should be handled elsewhere. Its strongest signal is not only the 2 must-ship and 15 expected items, but the requirements attached to conditional proposals and the stated reasons for declining others.The next pressure point is review from the wider Ethereum community. EF Protocol said it is hosting a Reddit AMA on r/ethereum on September 16 at 2pm UTC and specifically invited challenges from champions of non-A-tier and declined EIPs. For a fork with many proposed changes, that feedback loop may determine whether the list remains a stable delivery plan or changes before implementation work advances.
Sources
Editorial Team - CoinBotLab
