EF Protocol: Current and Emerging Priorities

In May, the Protocol cluster welcomed a trio of new cluster coordinators and promised updates to follow.

After months of settling in and aligning with contributors cluster-wide, across the EF and across the Ethereum ecosystem, we are now happy to share Protocol's priorities: what Protocol is for, the commitments that govern its work through 2029, and what those commitments require of the forks now entering scope.

With Glamsterdam approaching mainnet, Protocol has entered the Hegotá scoping season. We used the process described in an August 28 post: 62 EIPs proposed for inclusion, multiple Glamsterdam retrospectives, 16 contribution templates, and several cluster-wide working sessions. That process helped roughly 60 researchers and engineers to determine a shared set of priorities. Those priorities cover the longer-term roadmap and are focused through a critical path. That path starts with how we scope Hegotá.

This post communicates that shared set of cluster-wide priorities. For our grade on every Hegotá candidate, read the companion: EF Protocol: The Hegotá EIP Opinion Post and Tier List.

I. The north star

The EF Protocol cluster is aiming for Ethereum L1 to be quantum-resistant across all three layers (execution, consensus, and data) by December 2029. That date lines up with the 2029 migration targets independently set by Google, Cloudflare, and Microsoft. Estimates for Q-day will sharpen as time progresses. Its timing is outside anyone’s control, which is exactly why we have fixed a target rather than waiting for certainty. For now, Ethereum L1 should plan for Q-day happening as early as 2030. Planning for Q-day in 2030 is a deliberately aggressive assumption. Most credible estimates place Q-day later, some much later, and we may never see it at all.