Ethereum to Add FOCIL (EIP7805) in Hegota Upgrade Slated for Second Half of 2026

Ethereum plans to add ForkChoice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL), introduced as EIP7805, as the headline feature of the Hegota upgrade expected in the second half of 2026, developers said. The consensus-layer change would require validators to include valid public mempool transactions or risk their blocks being rejected by the chain; if a proposer ignores inclusion lists, the protocol can fork away from that block to ensure confirmation within a limited number of slots, even in hostile conditions. Vitalik Buterin endorsed FOCIL and said it works alongside EIP8141 to elevate smart accounts, including multisigs, quantum-resistant signatures and gas-sponsored transactions, with rapid inclusion handled by one of 17 randomly selected actors per slot and confirmation effectively within one to two slots. Developer Ameen Soleimani cautioned that forcing validators to include specific transactions could create legal and operational risks, particularly if those transactions involve sanctioned entities, and argued that constraints on block builders may have unintended consequences.