EEA Ethereum Intelligence

Ethereum Ecosystem Guide · How Ethereum changes Part of EEA Ethereum Intelligence →

No board approves Ethereum upgrades.

This atlas shows how an idea becomes network rules: who participates, what each group can and cannot decide, and when your organization should pay attention.

2026 - Maintained by the EEA

It starts with an idea
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When a change reaches Mainnet

The protocol rules active on Mainnet.

At the end of this process are the protocol rules active on Mainnet. Once a change activates, systems using Ethereum operate against those rules whether or not their teams tracked the proposal in advance.

A deployed change may require immediate review because it is already in production. Teams should check whether it affects their systems.

Explore the Atlas

Explore each part of the process.

Select any stage, crossing or group to see what it decides, what it cannot decide, how people can participate, and the sources for each claim.
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What has to be true
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The questions institutions ask here

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The software

Independent clients implement the same protocol rules

Independent teams build different software implementations of the same Ethereum rules. No single client controls the network, and none needed a central license to exist.

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The calendar

What ships when

Ethereum groups changes into named upgrades. Scheduling is not a commitment: a proposal on a list can still be pulled, and scope moves until activation.

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Where you fit

Choose your objective

Each route below is public. Choose the one that matches what you need to do.

Raise a new requirement

Ethereum Magicians → EIP authors / researchers

Open a public thread to vet the idea, then draft an EIP in the EIP-1 format. The process is permissionless.

Contribute to a proposal being discussed

Discussion thread → authors → client teams

Comment on the EIP's discussion thread; authors must document dissent. Implementer interest is what moves it forward.

Understand whether something may ship

All Core Devs → Meta EIP → devnets

Watch the upgrade's Meta EIP and ACD calls. A proposal on a devnet has reached active implementation testing; a list entry is still not a commitment.

Prepare infrastructure for an upgrade

Client releases → testnets → activation

Track client release notes and testnet activations. A client release that carries an activation epoch provides a concrete activation point.

›Detailed routes, by group

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›The questions institutions ask
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When a proposal appears on an upgrade list, teams can start preparing, but it can still be pulled before activation. The Atlas describes the process and does not predict the outcome.

Sources: EIP-1, process rules, Ethereum EIPs, Ethereum Magicians and Forkcast upgrade tracker.

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