Buterin warns relay dependence in Ethereum smart wallets

Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin flagged a structural dependency that he says leaves smart contract wallets and privacy protocols reliant on third‑party relay services to get transactions into the public mempool and mined. He proposed FOCIL and two protocol changes, EIP‑7701 and EIP‑8141, to address the issue as part of the Hegota upgrade scheduled for late 2026.

Buterin described the problem as follows: accounts that run programmable code instead of a single private key and privacy designs that hide transaction details still must hand off inclusion requests to external relays. Those relays broadcast transactions to the public mempool and to miners or validators. If a relay operator stops operating or refuses to process a request, the user cannot force the transaction into the chain through another path.

The technical proposal centers on FOCIL, the Fork‑choice Enforced Inclusion List. Under FOCIL, each block slot would have a validator randomly assigned to act as the transaction includer. That random assignment means no single operator can consistently prevent a transaction from being relayed to the chain. The design targets a guarantee that valid transactions will be included within one to two block slots.

EIP‑7701 is aimed at introducing native account abstraction at the protocol level, giving every wallet the programmability currently available only to smart contract accounts. EIP‑8141 would extend that work by adding features such as quantum‑resistant signature schemes, key rotation, and protocol‑level gas sponsorship. Together with FOCIL, those changes would let programmable wallets submit transactions directly to the public mempool and rely on the assigned FOCIL includer to pick them up rather than depending on intermediary broadcasters.

The proposals are intended for the consensus changes planned in the Hegota upgrade, which is targeted for late 2026. Buterin has stated that privacy and censorship resistance are technical priorities for the Ethereum Foundation going forward.

Smart contract wallets have grown in use because they offer multi‑signature setups, social recovery, and sponsored gas payments. Privacy protocols can hide transaction details but under current designs they still depend on relay services to request inclusion. If a relay operator stops cooperating, affected users have limited options to achieve on‑chain inclusion until the protocol-level changes are implemented.