After the release of The Merge update, many users began to complain that Ethereum was censoring some transactions. This in fact occurred after many services blocked transactions linked to the Tornado Cash mixer. To mitigate these issues, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin proposed a solution on a forum. The solution is called “partial block auctions” and aims to restrict the power of builders to avoid centralization and other network failures.
anti-censorship measures
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin suggests limiting builders from producing entire blocks while developers work to evade Ethereum censorship. Buterin believes that partial block auctions can further decentralize block production. In this sense, the measure aims to prevent builders from designing the block as a whole. For example, the auction would allow builders to choose the first half of the block, but not the second. Therefore, the construction of the blocks would be divided into more parts. “Instead of builders having full control to build the entire block if they win an auction, builders would have a more limited amount of energy,” said Buterin Vitalik Buterin proposes three possible ways to limit block production power. Includes inclusion lists, bidder suffixes, and pre-commit bidder suffixes. Inclusion lists: the bidder offers a list of transactions to be included in the block, unless the builder fills a block with other transactions; Bidder Suffixes: Bidder creates a suffix for the block that allows builders to not see bidder information and add transactions missed by builders; Pre-commit bidder suffixes: The bidder pre-commits a Merkle or KZG tree and other transactions it wants to include in the block. A builder creates a block and then a bidder adds the suffix.
Can it work?
Vitalik Buterin said he would limit power to both bidders and builders and introduce a third party into the block production process to avoid centralization. Thus, it will help to mitigate Ethereum censorship. However, the builders will still have enough power to capture almost all of the maximum extractable value (MEV). That is, they will still have great power in their hands, which makes this solution only a palliative. Another issue is that Buterin’s proposals also have weaknesses. The inclusion list, for example, has compatibility issues with incentives, additional burdens for bidders, and the possibility of attacks. The proposer suffix solution, on the other hand, reduces compatibility issues, but has the same weaknesses as inclusion lists.
Ethereum (ETH) price after the merger
As censorship concerns mount after The Merge, the price of Ether (ETH) continues to decline. As of the close of this article, ETH is trading at $1,290, down nearly 2% over the last 24 hours. Since The Merge, the price of ETH has dropped by more than 35%. Censorship concerns have also caused the market cap of Circle’s USDC stablecoin to drop below $48 billion. This was because the stablecoin announced that it would also apply sanctions against USDC addresses that used Tornado Cash. The mixer is accused of facilitating the work of hackers who have stolen cryptocurrencies in the past, but privacy advocates claim the sanctions are overstated. In addition, the blocks also harm people who use Tornado Cash to maintain their privacy and do not commit crimes.