Vitalik Buterin proposes the FOCIL mechanism to address the centralization risk in Ethereum block construction

WuSaidBlockchainW · 2026-03-02T19:26:51+00:00

Vitalik Buterin discussed the centralization risks in Ethereum block construction in his blog, emphasizing that even with the introduction of proposer-builder separation (PBS), the dominance of a few builders could still lead to transaction censorship and excessive profit extraction. He proposed adopting the FOCIL mechanism, where randomly selected participants designate transactions to include, reducing censorship risk, and also suggested mitigating front-running and transaction observation risks through transaction encryption and anonymized routing.

WuSaidBlockchainW

2026-03-02 19:26:51

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Vitalik Buterin in his latest blog focuses on the centralization risks in the block building process of Ethereum, pointing out that even with the upcoming “Glamsterdam” upgrade which will officially introduce proposer-builder separation (PBS), allowing validators to outsource block construction to market-based builders, a few dominant builders could still lead to transaction censorship and excessive profit extraction. He proposes mechanisms including FOCIL, where randomly selected participants specify transactions that must be included in the block, and if they are missing, the block is rejected, to reduce the possibility of single-builder censorship; he also suggests encrypting transactions to mitigate the risks of “toxic MEV” front-running and sandwich attacks, and introducing anonymous routing at the network layer to reduce the risk of intermediate nodes observing transactions in advance. (CoinDesk)

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