Crypto has recently received significant attention from media, policymakers and regulators; the most notable being the SEC's recent action against multiple crypto businesses and personalities. While the merit of these actions is up for debate, it's clear that regulation is not going away and will remain a relevant aspect of crypto and blockchain into the future. Transaction filtering, specifically related to OFAC's Sanctions List, has been a hot and contested topic within the Ethereum community since The Merge. As a risk averse relay operator that respects the list, we have noted a lack of transparent tooling for stakeholders. In the PBS ecosystem, participants need to understand each other's filtering requirements to effectively operate in each role.
Rather than guess the contents of each other's filtering lists, we introduce 0xProtect - a smart contract registry designed to aid Ethereum block production stakeholders by maintaining an on-chain copy of OFAC's Sanction List.
Why are we doing this?
We have identified the need for a transparent solution to the coordination problem between builders, relays and validators in case one or more stakeholders chooses to filter transactions.
0xProtect acts as a transparent registry for affected stakeholders.
Who is it for?
0xProtect has been developed for use by key participants in the block production ecosystem: block builders, relays, validators and searchers. Each of these parties can read directly to the smart contract, which is designed to be updated following any relevant changes published on the OFAC Sanctions List.
We understand that not all ecosystem participants prefer to adhere to OFAC guidelines, and our intention with this tool is not to promote or enforce compliance. Rather, it is our aim to provide a transparent, common registry for what goes into our decisions to include or exclude certain transactions, bundles and blocks. This registry may also be helpful for stakeholders to conduct due diligence, depending on their operational needs.
How does it work?
Through the use of a smart contract and intermediary app (Sanctions List Service or SLS), 0xProtect makes filtering requirements available on a common platform, with data stored as a smart contract. The contract receives updates as relevant changes are detected in the OFAC Sanctions List, meaning stakeholders can have a common understanding of each other's requirements.
How Eden Network uses 0xProtect
0xProtect is the first attempt at making transaction filtering requirements transparent and available as a smart contract. We're releasing the code as an open-source project to keep our solution set transparent and available for others to build upon.
We invite any parties interested in participating in the continued development of 0xProtect to reach us on Discord, Twitter, our website, or by submitting a pull request on GitHub (link below).
0xProtect is live on Ethereum mainnet. Builders, relays, validators and searchers are now free to interact with it:
Have any questions or feedback? Join us on Discord and chat to the team.
Disclaimer: This tool has not undergone third-party auditing. Anyone that chooses to interact with it does so at their own risk and discretion.
Eden Network does not provide any warranties or guarantees regarding the use of this tool, and declines any liability or responsibility that may result from non-compliance by the user.