Ethereum Ecosystem — 2026-05-13
The Ethereum Foundation has ushered in a new era of protocol leadership by appointing three new leaders for its Protocol Cluster, signaling a strategic shift in how the network's roadmap is stewarded. Simultaneously, the Glamsterdam devnet is showing steady progress while major features like FOCIL and Verkle Trees have been shuffled into the late-2026 Hegotá "cleanup and hardening" fork. On the L2 front, gaming sidechain Ronin is preparing its transition to an Ethereum Layer 2, underscoring the ongoing gravitational pull of Ethereum's security model.
Ethereum Ecosystem — 2026-05-13
Top Story
Ethereum Foundation Signals New Era With Protocol Cluster Leadership Shift
The Ethereum Foundation has appointed three new leaders for its Protocol Cluster, marking what observers are calling the beginning of a new chapter for the project's core development roadmap. The move follows a period of leadership restructuring at the Foundation and comes as Ethereum's upgrade pipeline grows increasingly complex.
The leadership transition aligns with a broader strategic realignment being played out in the upgrade roadmap itself. Glamsterdam — the next scheduled hard fork — is progressing through its devnet phase, with core developers sharing detailed updates on what features are included and which have been deferred. Notably, FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists), Verkle Trees, and account-abstraction upgrades have all been moved out of Glamsterdam and into the subsequent Hegotá fork, which is now positioned as a late-2026 "cleanup and hardening" release rather than a feature-dense upgrade.
For Ethereum's decentralization and censorship-resistance ambitions, the inclusion of FOCIL in Hegotá remains a milestone. FOCIL was earlier championed by Vitalik Buterin as core to Ethereum's cypherpunk identity, and its eventual landing in Hegotá keeps that vision on track — just on a slightly extended timeline.
The combined effect of new Protocol Cluster leadership and a more deliberate pacing of features signals that the Foundation is prioritizing stability and coordination rigor as Ethereum scales. Observers will be watching whether the new leadership accelerates or recalibrates any pending EIP timelines.
Protocol & Development
- Glamsterdam Devnet Progress & Hegotá Roadmap Shift: Ethereum's next hard fork, Glamsterdam, is advancing through devnet testing. Key features — including FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists), Verkle Trees, and account-abstraction upgrades — have been migrated to the subsequent Hegotá fork, now targeting late 2026 as a "cleanup and hardening" release. The shift reflects a more conservative bundling strategy for Glamsterdam, keeping its scope manageable while preserving ambitious features for Hegotá.
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L2BEAT Activity Data: According to L2BEAT's live scaling metrics, Ethereum rollups are achieving a 52.41x scaling factor relative to Ethereum mainnet, with rollups posting ~898.88 past-day UOPS (user operations per second) versus Ethereum's ~20.87. This illustrates the outsized throughput now handled by the L2 layer — a direct product of Ethereum's rollup-centric roadmap.
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Ethereum L2 Guide 2026 — TVL, Fees & Security Compared: A freshly updated comparison of Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, and zkSync covers TVL, transaction fees, throughput, and L2BEAT security ratings as of May 2026. The guide underscores how dramatically the L2 landscape has matured, with distinct tradeoffs across security stages and fee models shaping developer and user choices.
DeFi Pulse
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Total Ethereum DeFi TVL: No real-time figure was available from DefiLlama in this research cycle. Please verify current TVL directly at .
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Top Movers: Specific 24-hour TVL movers were not available in the current research results; check DefiLlama for live data.
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LayerZero Fallout Pushes ~$2B in Protocols to Chainlink CCIP: Following security flaws and a Lazarus-linked exploit in the LayerZero ecosystem, protocols managing nearly $2 billion in assets announced their migration away from LayerZero to Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP). The exodus represents one of the most significant cross-chain infrastructure reshuffles of 2026, raising broader questions about bridge and messaging-layer security across DeFi.
cryptotimes.io
Ethereum - DeFi TVL, Fees, & Revenue - DefiLlama
Ethereum - DeFi TVL, Fees, & Revenue - DefiLlama
Chain Rankings by TVL - DeFi Analytics - DefiLlama
Base - DeFi TVL, Fees, & Revenue - DefiLlama
Ethereum Chains DeFi TVL - DefiLlama
Layer 2 & Scaling
- Ronin Prepares Transition from Gaming Sidechain to Ethereum L2: Ronin — the blockchain best known as the home of Axie Infinity and for suffering the largest DeFi bridge exploit on record in 2022 (attributed to the Lazarus Group) — is now preparing to migrate from an independent gaming sidechain to a full Ethereum Layer 2. The stated motivations are enhanced security, improved tokenomics, and better scalability. The move is part of a broader industry trend of app-chains seeking Ethereum's security guarantees via the OP Stack and similar frameworks.
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L2 Ecosystem: Rollups Now 52x More Throughput Than Ethereum L1: Per L2BEAT's latest activity data, the combined rollup ecosystem (Arbitrum, Base, Optimism, zkSync, and others) is delivering roughly 52 times the transaction throughput of Ethereum mainnet. This metric captures the tangible scaling impact of the rollup-centric roadmap and reinforces Ethereum's position as the settlement layer for a vast off-chain execution universe.
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Ethereum L2 Security Landscape in May 2026: The updated L2 comparison guide highlights that security ratings vary significantly across chains. Arbitrum is classified as a Stage 1 Optimistic Rollup by L2BEAT, with a Security Council capable of emergency upgrades and a standard 8-day L2 / 3-day L1 upgrade delay for non-emergency changes. Users are advised to consult L2BEAT's security ratings when choosing where to deploy funds.
What to Watch
- Glamsterdam Devnet Milestones: Track whether the Glamsterdam devnet advances to public testnet phase over the coming days. Core dev calls and EIP authors are expected to post updates on feature lock and readiness.
- Hegotá Feature Finalization: With FOCIL, Verkle Trees, and account abstraction now slated for Hegotá (late 2026), watch for ACD (All Core Devs) discussions firming up the EIP list and timeline for that fork.
- Ronin L2 Migration Timeline: Ronin's migration to the OP Stack is in early stages — follow official announcements for testnet launch dates and tokenomics changes tied to the move.
- Post-LayerZero Protocol Migrations: As roughly $2B in protocol value seeks new cross-chain infrastructure, monitor whether additional DeFi protocols announce moves to Chainlink CCIP or alternative messaging layers in the coming days.
Reader Action Items
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Verify your bridge/cross-chain exposure: If you use LayerZero-integrated protocols, review whether your preferred project has announced a migration to Chainlink CCIP or another provider — and whether any user action is required during the transition period.
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Check L2 security ratings before deploying: With Ronin's pending L2 migration and the broad L2 landscape maturing, use L2BEAT to verify the security stage of any L2 you plan to use, particularly for larger positions.
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Follow Ethereum Foundation Protocol Cluster updates: The new Protocol Cluster leadership at the Ethereum Foundation may shift EIP priorities and communication cadence. Bookmark the EF blog and the ethereum-magicians forum for early signals on any roadmap adjustments.
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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