Ethereum researchers are pushing for two transaction changes in the 2027 Hegotá upgrade that could allow privacy pools to pay network fees without relying on third-party intermediaries. The proposals, Frame Transactions (EIP-8141) and Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL, EIP-7805), are being prioritized by the Protocol Architecture team, according to Ethereum Foundation researcher Toni Wahrstätter in an Aug. 17 X post.

Frame Transactions would introduce a programmable transaction format, giving wallets more control over validation, execution, and gas payments. This could eliminate the need for relayers in privacy pools, which currently act as intermediaries and may expose transaction details. "Together with Frames, these enable privacy pools where the pool itself can pay fees, removing the need for intermediaries," Wahrstätter said. "Add FOCIL support, and privacy transactions also gain protocol-level inclusion guarantees."

FOCIL, the only confirmed Hegotá feature, would allow a committee of validators to publish lists of transactions that block builders must include. This would make it harder for builders to exclude eligible privacy transactions, providing protocol-level inclusion guarantees. While FOCIL alone does not make transactions private, it adds a process for resisting selective exclusion.

The proposals are part of a broader package that includes Keyed Nonces (EIP-8272), Recent Roots, and Transaction Assertions (EIP-7906). These would enable separate transaction sequences, reference recent Ethereum states, and allow wallets to define conditions for transaction processing. However, EIP-8141 remains under consideration, with client teams comparing it to EIP-8130 before deciding which design to implement.

Hegotá currently has 66 proposals under discussion, covering account abstraction, censorship resistance, transaction pricing, state growth, validator economics, and network scaling. Most have not entered implementation or testing. "A fork can't be a wishlist by the community or core devs jamming on what Ethereum should eventually become," Wahrstätter wrote earlier, emphasizing the need for careful selection.

The proposals come amid ongoing US scrutiny of crypto privacy tools. The Treasury removed sanctions on Tornado Cash in March 2025, but a Manhattan jury convicted co-founder Roman Storm in August 2025 of operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Ethereum's proposed privacy pool design focuses on protocol-level fee payment and inclusion, not compliance systems, leaving sanctions screening and money-transmission rules to individual applications.

Hegotá follows the 2026 Glamsterdam upgrade, which centers on Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation and Block-Level Access Lists. Execution client teams are due to submit their Hegotá preference lists by Sept. 10, with a decision on competing account-abstraction designs targeted for the Aug. 27 All Core Developers Execution call.