Vitalik published quite an interesting article about how Ethereum plans to address the issues of centralization in block creation. Honestly, this is one of those topics that affects the entire ecosystem, but few truly understand the details.

The point is that currently, the process of creating blocks is quite centralized — a few major builders control a large part of the flow. Vitalik proposes several approaches to change this situation. The first is ePBS, essentially a fixed division of roles between those who propose a block and those who build it. It sounds technical, but the idea is simple: divide functions so that no one has too much power.

The second part of the strategy is FOCIL, a fair incentive layer for ordering. Vitalik believes that if economic incentives are properly aligned, the network will naturally tend toward a fair distribution of power. Plus, encrypted mempools are about hiding transaction information until they are included in a block.

All of this strategy ultimately aims at one thing — reducing MEV, or maximum extractable value. This is when builders and validators can manipulate the order of transactions for their own benefit. The problem is real, and if Ethereum can solve it, it will be a big step forward for the fairness and security of the network. Vitalik is clearly taking this seriously.