Vitalik's New Vision for Ethereum's Digital Future: How to Build Censorship Resistance into the Protocol

I recently remembered an important point from Vitalik — what if the entire Ethereum development team disappears one day? Or if a government orders a review of transactions? These questions may seem exaggerated, but they are extremely important for Ethereum’s digital architecture.

In response to this question, Vitalik introduced a new concept in March — "Sanctuary Technologies." This means open-source technologies that enable people to stay, work, communicate, and keep assets safe from external pressure. In simple terms — a digital network that remains open under any pressure.

Vitalik gave a great example — truly decentralized technology should be like a hammer. Once you buy it, it’s yours. The manufacturer can go away, but the hammer will still work. No one will tell you, “This feature is not available in your region.”

But what is the reality? Over the past few years, Ethereum’s block creation process has become more centralized. Power has been concentrated in the hands of powerful builders, who decide which transactions are included in a block. The result? Increased reviewability. Any major builder can exclude a particular transaction from a block.

This is where FOCIL (Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists) becomes important. Its core idea is simple — the decision to include transactions in a block will not be solely in the hands of the builder. A committee of verifiers will create a list of transactions to be included. This is a strong way to ensure digital security at the protocol level.

But FOCIL doesn’t solve a problem — when your transaction appears in the public mempool, anyone can see it and perform a sandwich attack based on that. This is where cryptographic mempool comes in. The idea is to keep transactions encrypted until they are included in a block. Searchers cannot see the transactions, so front-running is prevented.

Researchers call this the “Holy Triangle of Censorship Resistance” — ePBS + FOCIL + Encrypted Mempool. Together, these three secure the entire chain of digital transactions.

Looking at it from a broader perspective, this is not just a technical upgrade. It’s a sign that Ethereum is re-prioritizing its core values — true decentralization and censorship resistance. When countless users can live and work freely on this digital paradise without fear of centralized powers — that’s when Ethereum will truly pass its test. And that’s the real meaning of Sanctuary Technologies.