{"id":65870,"date":"2022-08-16T12:15:10","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T09:15:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/?p=65870"},"modified":"2025-09-06T22:20:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-06T19:20:51","slug":"ethereum-community-proposes-soft-fork-to-counter-ofac-sanctions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/ethereum-community-proposes-soft-fork-to-counter-ofac-sanctions\/","title":{"rendered":"Ethereum community proposes soft fork to counter OFAC sanctions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Vitalik Buterin endorsed a hypothetical option to burn the stake of major Ethereum validators who would agree to comply with OFAC sanctions at the protocol level. However, the community included others who supported censorship.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can\u2019t believe how vacant the response from the Ethereum community has been on this. Wasn\u2019t the plan always to slash censoring attackers? Or make them bleed out to 0 by freezing their stake? <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iDBgB2K3jg\">pic.twitter.com\/iDBgB2K3jg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eric Wall X ? (@ercwl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ercwl\/status\/1559268027983593474?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u00ab\u0420\u0430\u0437\u0432\u0435 \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d \u043d\u0435 \u0437\u0430\u043a\u043b\u044e\u0447\u0430\u043b\u0441\u044f \u0432 \u0442\u043e\u043c, \u0447\u0442\u043e\u0431\u044b \u0441\u043e\u043a\u0440\u0430\u0442\u0438\u0442\u044c \u043a\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0430\u0442\u0430\u043a\u0443\u044e\u0449\u0438\u0445 \u0446\u0435\u043d\u0437\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0432? \u0418\u043b\u0438 \u0437\u0430\u0441\u0442\u0430\u0432\u0438\u0442\u044c \u0438\u0445 \u0438\u0441\u0442\u0435\u0447\u044c \u043a\u0440\u043e\u0432\u044c\u044e \u0434\u043e \u043d\u0443\u043b\u044f, \u0437\u0430\u043c\u043e\u0440\u043e\u0437\u0438\u0432 \u0438\u0445 \u0441\u0442\u0435\u0439\u043a\u0438\u043d\u0433\u043e\u0432\u044b\u0439 \u0434\u0435\u043f\u043e\u0437\u0438\u0442?\u00bb,<\/em> \u2014 \u043f\u043e\u0441\u0435\u0442\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043b \u043f\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0437\u043e\u0432\u0430\u0442\u0435\u043b\u044c Eric Wall X.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The proposer of the initiative created a poll in response to a call by Rotkiapp founder Lefteris Karapetas to the largest staking pools such as Lido Finance, Coinbase and Kraken.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He proposed that they clarify their position regarding compliance with OFAC sanctions [in light of recent events around Tornado Cash]. <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.news\/ethereum-mikser-tornado-cash-popal-pod-sanktsii-ssha\/\" title=\"\u0441\u043e\u0431\u044b\u0442\u0438\u0439 \u0432\u043e\u043a\u0440\u0443\u0433 Tornado Cash\">events around Tornado Cash<\/a>. Organizations urged them to say whether they were willing to refrain from censorship and to drop business to preserve network integrity.<\/p>\n<p>Buterin reminded Eric Wall X that in <a href=\"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/news\/what-is-the-proof-of-work-pow-algorithm\">Proof-of-Stake<\/a> there is an option for a soft fork activated by a minority of users (<span data-descr=\"user-activated soft fork\" class=\"old_tooltip\">UASF<\/span>) in the form of a so-called \u201csocial consensus\u201d. For this, the consent of one-third of the assets locked in staking is required. In Ethereum this is implemented via the inactivity leak mechanism.<\/p>\n<p>Developer nick.eth doubted the viability of such a soft fork. He explained that this was due to the high correlation between users and validators, which would lead to insufficient support for unpopular decisions.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-conversation=\"none\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Is it so different now just because OFAC is enforcing the censorship? That the censorship is \u201dlegal\u201d? <\/p>\n<p>This kind of weak-spined, limp-dick (sorry Nick, you\u2019re great) rhetoric is why I still have my reservations about the Ethereum community. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/8YagokrYWU\">pic.twitter.com\/8YagokrYWU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eric Wall X ? (@ercwl) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ercwl\/status\/1559270292924530688?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Eric Wall X strongly disagreed with this statement.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u00ab\u0423\u0441\u0442\u043e\u0439\u0447\u0438\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c \u043a \u0446\u0435\u043d\u0437\u0443\u0440\u0435 \u043d\u0435 \u044f\u0432\u043b\u044f\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e\u043c \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u043e\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430, \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0441\u0432\u043e\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u043e \u0441\u043e\u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430\u00bb,<\/em> \u2014 \u043f\u043e\u0434\u0447\u0435\u0440\u043a\u043d\u0443\u043b \u043e\u043d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The user urged the largest validators not to comply with OFAC. He forecast a staking slash for all clients and the dissolution of their businesses if organisations chose otherwise. Eric Wall X acknowledged that at this stage this is technically impossible.<\/p>\n<p>In conclusion, an Ethereum maximalist appealed to the Bitcoin community, lamenting that in 2017 they did not stand up for the values properly to support SegWit2x.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u00ab\u041f\u043e\u0447\u0435\u043c\u0443 \u044d\u0442\u043e \u0442\u0430\u043a \u0431\u0435\u0437\u0443\u043c\u043d\u043e, \u0447\u0442\u043e Ethereum \u0441\u0442\u043e\u043b\u043a\u043d\u0435\u0442\u0441\u044f \u0441 \u043f\u043e\u0434\u043e\u0431\u043d\u044b\u043c\u0438 \u0431\u0438\u0442\u0432\u0430\u043c\u0438, \u043a\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0440\u044b\u0435 \u0442\u0430\u043a\u0436\u0435 \u0442\u0440\u0435\u0431\u0443\u044e\u0442 \u043f\u0440\u043e\u0442\u0438\u0432\u043e\u0434\u0435\u0439\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0438\u044f \u0441\u043e\u043e\u0431\u0449\u0435\u0441\u0442\u0432\u0430?\u00bb,<\/em> \u2014 \u0437\u0430\u0434\u0430\u043b\u0441\u044f \u0432\u043e\u043f\u0440\u043e\u0441\u043e\u043c \u043e\u043d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"wp-block-text-wrappers-update-2 article_update\"><time class=\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_time\">16 August 2022 | 13:46<\/time><span class=\"gtb_text-wrappers_update_head\">Update: <\/span><\/p>\n<p>The developer LukeYoungblood, who helped build Coinbase&#8217;s staking service, stressed that the Bitcoin exchange would abandon the product to avoid violating one of the principles of cryptography \u2014 censorship-resistance. According to journalist Colin Wu, Coinbase&#8217;s Ethereum validators operate outside the United States (for tax purposes), which would complicate attempts by U.S. regulators to enforce sanctions.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Former coinbase eth staking builder: all of Coinbase retail Ethereum validators operate outside the US (for tax purposes). So not only will they fight censorship to their last, dying breath, it is a stretch for US regulators to censor transactions. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fH59xhehM6\">https:\/\/t.co\/fH59xhehM6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WuBlockchain\/status\/1559465169935552522?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>As noted in late July, Chinese miner Chandler Guo proposed a fork with an Ethereum branch that would continue to operate on the Proof-of-Work algorithm. The ETHPoW asset that emerged would allow miners of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization to continue operating after the merge.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, supporters of the PoW fork called it \u201cinevitable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Experts at CoinShares were skeptical about the prospects for ETHPoW and deemed it &#8220;unviable&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Follow ForkLog&#8217;s Bitcoin news on our Telegram \u2014 cryptocurrency news, prices and analysis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Vitalik Buterin endorsed a hypothetical option to burn the stake of major Ethereum validators who would agree to comply with OFAC sanctions at the protocol level. However, the community included others who supported censorship.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":65871,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[46,686,459],"class_list":["post-65870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethereum","tag-sanctions","tag-softfork"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"18","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65870"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65870\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65872,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65870\/revisions\/65872"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}