Ethereum Developers Target Privacy Changes in Next Major Upgrade

In brief

• Ethereum Foundation researchers want Frame Transactions and FOCIL prioritized for the Hegotá upgrade.
• Frame Transactions and related proposals could let privacy pools pay their own fees without relying on third parties.
• Developers are considering 66 proposals for the 2027 upgrade, with FOCIL currently the only confirmed addition.

Ethereum developers are considering changes that could let privacy pools pay their own transaction fees, reducing their reliance on third-party services that can expose wallet activity.

In a post on X on Monday, Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter said the Protocol Architecture team wants to prioritize two proposals for Hegotá, the major Ethereum upgrade scheduled for 2027: Frame Transactions (EIP-8141), which would give wallets more control over how transactions are executed, and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists, or FOCIL (EIP-7805), which would make it harder to censor eligible transactions.

"Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries," Wahrstätter wrote. "Add FOCIL support and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees."

Frame Transactions would work with Keyed Nonces and Recent Roots (EIP-8272) to let privacy pools pay their own fees without an intermediary. Wahrstätter described frames as a “much more expressive transaction format” and a key building block for Ethereum’s next-generation transaction experience.