Week in Ethereum News

February 13, 2026

Highlight of the Week

• L1-zkEVM Roadmap Kickoff: The first L1-zkEVM workshop focused on EIP-8025 (Optional Execution Proofs), which aims to transition Ethereum from transaction re-execution to proof-driven block verification.

Eth R&D Protocol Call(s)

• ACDE #230 (Execution) (February 12, 2026):

  • Glamsterdam Scope: Developers discussed the final inclusion list for the mid-2026 upgrade, confirming Block-Level Access Lists (BALs) and Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation (ePBS) as the primary pillars.

  • Hegotá Naming: The developers officially named the subsequent upgrade "Hegotá" (blending Heze and Bogotá), targeting a late 2026 activation.

  • Gas Limit Signaling: Discussed the path toward increasing the Layer 1 gas limit to 100M following the stabilization of BALs on devnets.

• L1-zkEVM Breakout #1 (February 11, 2026):

  • EIP-8025 Implementation: Focused on standardizing the execution witness and "guest program" APIs to ensure multiple ZK-VMs (such as RISC Zero and ZisK) can generate proofs for Ethereum blocks.

  • Proof Aggregation: Debated the "3-of-5" multi-prover model to maintain client diversity and prevent the network from relying on a single ZK-proof implementation.

Layer 1

• Network Throughput: Ethereum hit a record 2.9 million daily transactions on February 8, testing the efficiency of the recently expanded blob capacity.

Research

• DeCeFi Paradigm: Research exploring how smart contracts can interact with off-chain liquidity pools via cryptographic proofs, potentially reducing the need for high-frequency on-chain state updates.

• Hyper-scaling State: Proposing "temporary storage" trie designs that physicaly delete old data monthly to prevent state bloat while allowing for "resurrection" via Merkle proofs.

Layer 2

• Rollup-First Strategy Questioned: Analysis indicates a strategic pivot where Layer 2s are evolving from general scaling solutions into specialized platforms for specific niches like AI-powered agents and high-fidelity gaming as Layer 1 efficiency improves.

Stuff for Developers

• Foundry:

  • Nightly Release 2026-02-13: Introduces real-time console.log support in Forge and Chisel, and a performance fix skipping redundant remapping detection in project roots.

  • AI Toolkit for VS Code v0.30.0: A milestone update adding a Tool Catalog for agent management and an Agent Inspector to debug AI agents like traditional software with breakpoints and step-through execution.

• Viem:

  • v2.45.3: Added multicall batching support for getBalance via getEthBalance, allowing for efficient state reads through a single eth_call.

• OpenZeppelin:

  • Midnight Privacy Partnership: Collaborating with Midnight to build privacy-preserving smart contract foundations and ZK-ready libraries ahead of its mainnet launch.

Security

• BlockSec Weekly Incident Report: The February 8 analysis highlighted a critical permissionless expressExecute() vulnerability in the CrossCurve protocol and a flawed burn logic exploit in the SOFI token's _transfer() function.

• Seoul Police Cold Custody Loss: On February 13, authorities confirmed the loss of 22 BTC held since 2021 due to legacy private key management failures, sparking renewed discussion on the necessity of smart contract-based recovery for institutional custody.Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH

Ecosystem

• EF Leadership Change: Co-executive director Tomasz Stańczak announced his resignation on February 13 to transition into the AI development sector; Bastian Aue has been named interim co-director.

Centralization watch: threatening the value of your ETH

• 🚨 Lido at 23.44%, still too close to the 33.3% threshold.

• Client diversity (via clientdiversity.org):

  • Execution layer: Geth ~41% & Nethermind ~38%

  • Consensus layer: Lighthouse ~50.52% & Prysm ~24.61%

• Any client bug over 33.3% could mean loss of finality.

• Better geographic diversity is optimal, particularly outside of North America & Europe.

EIPs/Standards

• EIPs (Core, Networking, Interface):

  • EIP-7732: Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation: Currently in Review; integrating the block-building process directly into the consensus layer to eliminate reliance on off-chain relays.

  • EIP-7928: Block-Level Access Lists: In Draft; proposing enforced access lists to enable parallel execution and state-access optimizations.

  • EIP-8025: Optional Execution Proofs: A new Draft allowing validators to verify blocks via ZK-proofs instead of full re-execution.

• ERCs (Application Layer):

  • ERC-7702: Set EOA account code: In Review; providing a mechanism for EOAs to temporarily set their code, enabling smart contract features for regular accounts.

  • ERC-7683: Cross-Chain Intent Standard: In Review; a collaborative standard between Uniswap and Across for seamless, intent-based cross-rollup transactions.

  • ERC-7265: Circuit Breaker for DeFi: Now Finalized; providing an on-chain mechanism to halt protocols during massive, anomalous liquidity outflows.

Onchain Stats

• Fees (via ultrasound.money):

  • Gas: 0.0 to 4.0 gwei, 0.1 gwei average; zero net issuance at 12.4 gwei

  • 121.45k ETH net issuance this week

• ETHUSD: $1,907 – $2,130, currently $2,053, all-time high $4,946

• ETHBTC: currently 0.029 (Flippening at ~0.165)

Regulation/Business/Tokens

• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: Speaking on CNBC on February 13, 2026, the Treasury Secretary urged Congress to deliver the "Clarity Act" to the President's desk this spring to establish a definitive federal market structure for digital assets.

• Ethereum ETF Inflows: Spot Ethereum ETFs broke a three-day outflow streak on February 10, 2026, recording $13.82 million in net inflows led by Grayscale's ETH product.

Upcoming Dates of Note

• February 18-21, 2026: ETHDenver BUIDLWeek - The world's largest Web3 developer conference and hackathon in Denver, Colorado.

• Mar 30 – Apr 2, 2026: EthCC 9 (Ethereum Community Conference): Europe’s largest Ethereum-focused conference, with strong research and developer tracks.

• April 29–30, 2026: TOKEN2049 Dubai: major global crypto and Web3 industry conference.