# Ethereum Foundation Locks in Two Core Features for Hegotá Upgrade
The Ethereum Foundation has designated two Ethereum Improvement Proposals as mandatory for the upcoming Hegotá upgrade: FOCIL and Frame Transactions. This decision establishes a clear roadmap while the core development team evaluates dozens of competing proposals for potential inclusion in the next major network release.
FOCIL, formally known as Enshrined Proposer-Builder Separation, addresses a structural vulnerability in Ethereum's consensus layer. This proposal embeds proposer-builder separation directly into the protocol, reducing reliance on external infrastructure like MEV-Boost and centralizing risks. By hardcoding this separation, Ethereum strengthens resistance to front-running attacks and distributes block construction authority more evenly across the network. The feature prevents any single builder from gaining excessive control over transaction ordering and extraction value.
Frame Transactions represent the second mandatory component. This proposal enables batching multiple operations into a single transaction frame, reducing overhead and improving efficiency for complex smart contract interactions. Frame Transactions lower gas costs for users executing multi-step operations, particularly beneficial for yield farming, token swaps, and other DeFi activities requiring sequential calls. The feature addresses a longstanding pain point where users pay redundant validation costs for related transactions.
The Ethereum Foundation's decision to lock these two proposals reflects developer consensus around their priority. Both address network-level concerns rather than experimental features. FOCIL enhances security and decentralization, while Frame Transactions deliver immediate user experience improvements. By making these mandatory, the Foundation ensures Hegotá delivers tangible benefits without diluting development focus.
The remaining proposals under consideration number in the dozens. Developers continue evaluating features spanning smart contract optimization, consensus improvements, and execution layer enhancements. This staggered approach allows the core team to prioritize based on implementation readiness and protocol impact rather than forcing everything into a single release. Past Ethereum upgrades like Shanghai and Dencun followed similar patterns, bundling high-impact changes while deferring less mature proposals.
Hegotá follows the Foundation's naming convention for major upgrades, referencing a geographic location in line with recent releases like Cancun and Deneb. The timeline remains fluid, but developers expect the upgrade to ship within the next 12 to 18 months, pending testing and community feedback on FOCIL and Frame Transactions implementations.
The focus on these two features signals Ethereum's continued prioritization of protocol robustness over feature expansion. FOCIL addresses structural MEV concerns that have plagued the network since the Merge transition to proof-of-stake, while Frame Transactions demonstrate commitment to practical usability improvements. Both changes represent evolutionary rather than revolutionary advances, reflecting the Foundation's mature approach to protocol governance.
Community response has been largely positive, particularly from staking operators and MEV-aware validators who view FOCIL as essential infrastructure. DeFi protocols anticipate Frame Transactions will reduce composability costs and enable more complex contract interactions within single transactions. These two changes position Hegotá as a stability and efficiency upgrade rather than a major feature release, allowing Ethereum to consolidate recent improvements while maintaining upgrade momentum.