Ethereum Co-Founder Raises Concerns About Censorship, Proposes Controversial Solution

Buterin's Proposal: Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed three strategies to mitigate centralization risks, including strengthening the public mempool and introducing Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL), which would involve multiple proposers for each block slot.

FOCIL Mechanism: The FOCIL proposal aims to prevent block builder oligopolies by assigning one lead proposer to set transaction order while 16 auxiliary proposers ensure that selected transactions cannot be excluded from inclusion.

Developer Concerns: Developer Ameen Soleimani raised concerns about FOCIL potentially exposing validators to legal risks, particularly in the U.S., as it could force them to include flagged transactions, risking prosecution.

Tension in Ethereum Community: The debate around FOCIL highlights the challenge Ethereum faces in maintaining neutrality and censorship resistance amid complex regulatory pressures.