Ethereum to add FOCIL to Hegota upgrade in second half of 2026

Ethereum Foundation researcher Alex Stokes confirmed during Thursday's All Core Devs meeting that the Hegota upgrade will include ForkChoice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL) in the second half of 2026. FOCIL would require validators to include every transaction submitted to the network, including those from OFAC-sanctioned addresses, with supporters arguing it guarantees censorship resistance at the protocol level; Jihoon Song stated on the Ready to Merge podcast on Feb. 19 that the mechanism aims to prevent transaction censorship as scaling increases centralisation pressures. Privacy Pools founder Ameen Soleimani said the benefits are overstated and that it creates legal risks for US-based validators, noting about 90% of validators declined to include Tornado Cash transactions after its OFAC sanctions listing, while Vitalik Buterin said it could help privacy protocols in combination with Frame Transactions and Tim Clancy described it as the single most important proposal for Ethereum on X last year. Hegota, named by blending the Bogotá Devcon venue and Heze star, will succeed Glamsterdam, which is set to headline Enshrined ProposerBuilder Separation and BlockLevel Access Lists.