Ethereum Foundation Unveils Plan to Combat Censorship

The Ethereum Foundation has announced a significant initiative aimed at bolstering the network's defenses against censorship, led by researcher Thomas Thierry. He has proposed integrating the FOCIL mechanism (EIP-7805) into the upcoming Hegota upgrade, which is part of the foundation's broader strategy to enhance network resilience.

Thierry, a member of the Robust Incentives Group, highlighted that the current blockchain framework does not provide adequate safeguards against transaction filtering at the protocol level. This vulnerability raises concerns about the potential for centralized builders and relayers to manipulate transaction processing.

FOCIL Mechanism Explained

FOCIL, or Fork Choice-enforced Inclusion Lists, is designed to empower validators to ensure user transactions are included in the blockchain, thereby diminishing the influence of centralized entities that might otherwise prioritize certain transactions over others. This proposal directly confronts the challenges posed by market builder centralization stemming from Miner Extractable Value (MEV) practices.

Researchers advocate for a technical solution to ensure resilience against censorship, rather than relying on the ethical standards of market participants. Thierry warned that while major builders currently do not engage in transaction censorship, this could change rapidly without proactive measures like FOCIL in place.

"Ethereum needs to be designed for decades of resilience. We must prevent censorship proactively, rather than reactively," Thierry stated.

Implementation Challenges

However, the implementation of FOCIL will face technical hurdles. The existing version does not accommodate transactions involving BLOBs and private MEV transfers. Initially, this proposal was slated for inclusion in the Glamsterdam hard fork but was postponed. The Hegota upgrade is now projected for 2026.

Additionally, it's worth noting that in January, the Ethereum mainnet experienced a surge in activity that outpaced layer-2 solutions, despite lower transaction fees.