EF Protocol Cluster Publishes Unified Tier List for Hegoté Upgrade, Evaluating 62 Proposed EIPs

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) Protocol cluster has officially published its first unified tier list evaluating 62 Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) proposed for inclusion in the upcoming Hegoté network upgrade. Bringing together approximately 60 researchers and engineers across nine teams and multiple domain experts, this marks a significant shift from previous upgrade cycles where individual teams published separate, decentralized opinions. While client implementation teams like Geth will still release their own standalone evaluations, this unified view represents a comprehensive collaborative effort to synthesize feedback from across the entire protocol ecosystem.

The release of the tier list is accompanied by a companion post titled EF Protocol: Current and Emerging Priorities, which outlines the cluster’s overarching north star, long-term roadmap, and the specific strategic principles that dictated the grading of every single proposal.

How the Tiering Process Worked

To arrive at the final rankings, nine core teams and several individual domain experts filled out 16 detailed contribution templates. Twelve of these contributors provided tier grades, with several focusing specifically on EIPs within their core areas of deep technical expertise. This process generated 397 individual tier grades across the 62 proposals, averaging about 6.4 grades per EIP, with the most heavily debated items drawing up to nine independent reviews.

The methodology was heavily informed by lessons learned from retrospectives following the earlier Glamsterdam upgrade. Key takeaways included sizing EIPs by their actual integration depth rather than surface appearance, recognizing that technical complexity compounds rapidly, treating the testing surface as the scarcest resource in protocol development, and factoring in that EIP champions frequently underestimate the true complexity of their proposals.

To iron out differences, the cluster held half a dozen group calls alongside a rigorous 90-minute working session dedicated to contested items. Each contributor independently scored EIPs on a traditional letter grade scale: S-tier representing a score of 4, A-tier for 3, B-tier for 2, C-tier for 1, and D-tier or DFI (Deferred/Declined) for 0. Final averages were calculated using only cast grades, meaning abstentions never penalized a proposal. Rather than simply averaging the raw numbers, the published tier list was constructed as a "steelman"—starting from the mathematical grades and undergoing exhaustive, EIP-by-EIP debate during the working session, with movements occurring in both directions.

Consensus Layer Evaluations

Within the consensus layer, the cluster evaluated numerous proposals addressing transaction inclusion, staking features, sync mechanisms, and rewards. Leading the pack in the S-tier is EIP-7805, introducing FOCIL (Filter-Based Concurrent Inclusion Lists), which serves as a locked-in consensus layer headliner. FOCIL ensures that any user has a direct, guaranteed path to including an eligible transaction without having to rely on centralized block builders. Achieving a unanimous S-tier under full participation, the cluster notes that FOCIL should ideally ship alongside EIP-8369.

EIP-8369 itself secures an A-tier rating for defining which transactions are eligible for FOCIL and establishing what validators must verify, effectively extending inclusion guarantees to Frames. Other notable A-tier consensus proposals include EIP-8015, which removes dead deposit and eth1data fields with virtually no downstream dependencies, and EIP-8365, which initiates the retirement of withdrawal credentials tied to vulnerable cryptography ahead of schedule as part of post-quantum hygiene.

Meanwhile, several proposals landed in the B-tier, requiring specific conditions to be met before moving forward. For instance, EIP-8198 (Quick Slots) enjoyed strong support from research and development teams, but engineering teams focused on delivery initially rated it D due to the complex cascading effects of altering slot times. The cluster ultimately determined that advancing Quick Slots to an S or A tier would require comprehensive core protocol specifications, a fully implemented working prototype, an exhaustive assessment of ecosystem-wide downstream effects, and explicit sign-off ensuring it does not interfere with decoupled consensus designs.

Proposals designated as DFI (Deferred for Inclusion) or placed below the line faced strict scrutiny. For example, EIP-7716, which proposes anti-correlation attestation penalties, was moved to DFI. While acknowledged as conceptually sound, the cluster concluded that its impacts on the staker landscape, centralization forces, and edge cases involving multi-client setups require deeper research and community discussion before implementation, especially given the goal of keeping the consensus layer scope light for the Hegoté upgrade.

Execution Layer Evaluations

On the execution layer, EIP-8141 (Frame Transactions) emerged as an S-tier headliner, securing a near-unanimous average of 3.89 across nine reviews. Frame Transactions introduce native account abstraction specifically grounded in security. They provide a sustainable path toward post-quantum signature schemes without necessitating a hard fork for every single new cryptographic scheme, enable signature aggregation to properly price post-quantum verification, and pave the way for retiring legacy k1 cryptographic keys. It is slated to ship alongside EIP-8250 and EIP-8272.

The A-tier features crucial improvements such as EIP-3298 for the removal of legacy refunds—eliminating an entire category of metering edge cases that plagued previous upgrades—and EIP-5920, which introduces the PAY opcode to enable clean value transfers without executing recipient code. Account abstraction and delegation enhancements also feature prominently in the A-tier, including EIP-8298 and EIP-8151, which together form the core package for transitioning 7702-delegated accounts into true smart contract accounts while phasing out legacy key dependencies.

Conversely, several execution layer proposals were deferred. EIP-8163, which reserves the EXTENSION (0xae) opcode, landed in the DFI block because no committed consumer exists for the current fork, and opcode reservations can easily be introduced in a future upgrade once object-format designs are finalized. Similarly, EIP-2488 to deprecate the CALLCODE opcode was deferred due to a lack of immediate urgency and lingering application-layer breakage risks.

Looking Ahead

Out of the 62 proposals evaluated by the EF Protocol cluster, only two have been designated as must-ship headliners, 15 are expected to ship, and 28 have been explicitly declined with transparently stated reasons. The remaining balance includes eight B-tier proposals awaiting specific requirements, seven C-tier proposals sitting below the line, and two TBD proposals dependent on incoming mainnet evidence.

Reflecting on the comprehensive scoring effort, the cluster emphasizes that the success of the Hegoté upgrade will be defined just as much by the rigorous proposals it chooses to decline as by the features it ultimately delivers. To foster community engagement and address community pushback, the protocol cluster has scheduled a public Reddit AMA on r/ethereum, where EIP champions, developers, and community members are invited to challenge the tier placements and discuss the architectural trajectory of the network.