TLDR
- Vitalik Buterin urged safeguards to ensure Ethereum processes all valid transactions.
- FOCIL distributes transaction inclusion across 17 proposers to curb centralization.
- Soleimani warned FOCIL may force US validators to process sanctioned activity.
- Ethereum faces debate over balancing neutrality with regulatory compliance.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has outlined new measures to ensure the network processes all valid transactions without discrimination. His proposal, Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL), is designed to defend neutrality but has drawn strong criticism over legal risks.
Vitalik Buterin Push for Ethereum Neutrality
Vitalik Buterin has emphasized that Ethereum’s base layer must act as a neutral infrastructure, processing every valid transaction regardless of origin. He warned that relying on a few professional builders could leave the system vulnerable to censorship and pressure.
To address this, he suggested three safeguards. These include keeping the public transaction pool strong, developing distributed block construction systems, and creating extra channels that guarantee transactions are included.
“The goal is to prevent a builder oligopoly from having a veto over transaction inclusion,” Buterin said.
How FOCIL Works
FOCIL shifts Ethereum’s design from relying on a single proposer to using multiple proposers at the same time. One proposer manages transaction ordering, while the others select transactions that must be added to the ledger.
The supporting proposers carry lighter responsibilities, as they only need to validate transactions. This makes it easier for more participants to contribute, spreading inclusion rights across a broader group of validators.
Buterin suggested that this approach could extend to privacy tools and smart contract wallets, lowering reliance on centralized intermediaries. By distributing transaction power, FOCIL aims to reduce censorship risks even if a small number of builders dominate most of the production.
Soleimani’s Legal Concerns
Ethereum developer Ameen Soleimani raised concerns that FOCIL could expose US validators to sanctions liability. He argued that forcing them to process transactions from sanctioned addresses could result in criminal penalties.
He pointed to past incidents where validators filtered sanctioned transactions, which slowed their confirmation but still allowed them to clear. This, he said, gave operators a way to comply with regulations while keeping the network functional. Soleimani warned that FOCIL removes such flexibility.
“If I was the US gov, I would actually be 100% in favor of FOCIL,” Soleimani said. He argued that regulators could then target validators, attesters, or even developers who designed a system that mandates such inclusion.
Concerns About Practicality
Soleimani also questioned whether FOCIL is sustainable in practice. He argued that it depends on validators acting out of “altruism” to include disputed transactions, yet it offers no incentives or safeguards to balance the risks involved.
He added that regulators and courts may not distinguish between different proposer roles, leaving all participants equally vulnerable to enforcement. This, he suggested, could deter many US-based operators from participating in Ethereum validation.
Buterin maintains that neutrality is essential for Ethereum’s role as open infrastructure. He said that multiple defenses, including FOCIL, are needed to ensure that valid transactions cannot be excluded from the network.
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