Analysis of Ethereum’s Block Reward and Block Creation Across the Merge

Ethereum, one of the largest and most influential blockchain platforms, underwent a significant transformation with its transition from the Proof-of-Work (PoW) to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism during the Merge. This transition raises critical questions about whether it fundamentally altered the system’s participation dynamics, reward distribution, and fairness in block creation. To address these questions, this study constructs a consistent and comprehensive dataset of rewards from both the pre-merge and post-merge phases and presents a comparative analysis of Ethereum’s block reward and creation patterns across these phases. We analyse the growth of consensus participants and examine the decentralisation of reward distribution across multiple participant layers. Additionally, we employ the Miner Sequence Bootstrapping (MSB) model to detect abnormal block creation behaviours in both phases. Our findings reveal that while the reward distribution at the individual validator layer is relatively egalitarian under the PoS mechanism, the system exhibits increased centralisation at the staking pool layer in the post-merge phase. Furthermore, we identify abnormal continuity in block creation under both PoW and PoS consensus mechanisms, with a noticeable surge in abnormal miners observed shortly before the Merge. Our results underscore the evolving impact of Ethereum’s reward mechanism and raise concerns about the system’s decentralisation, fairness, and long-term stability in its new PoS stage.