Date: 2022-09-29

This analysis is focused on the whether Merge is good or bad for the Ethereum network on Ethereum.

All data is from the September 1, 2022 until now.

Quick introduction

What is the Ethereum Merge?

This Ethereum upgrade, or “Merge” as it is known, changed the way new crypto transactions are made on the blockchain.

Previously, the Ethereum blockchain, like the Bitcoin blockchain, ran on a proof-of-work model, which involves nodes (computers that are part of a large network) competing with each other to solve mathematical problems. complicated. The successful ones can mine the next block of a transaction and create new coins.

The upgrade transitioned Ethereum to the Proof-of-Stake (POS) model, which is a more energy efficient and environmentally friendly system. It implies that nodes are selected through an algorithm that has a preference for nodes that contain more than one network's currency.

In other words, your "participation" in the network is rewarded on top of the computing power that is rewarded in the proof-of-work system.

When did the Ethereum meltdown happen?

After many delays, the Fusion finally took place during the early hours of September. 15, according to a tweet from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

Why did the Ethereum Merge happen?

Proponents say that the transition allows the Ethereum network to reduce its power consumption by around 99%.

The proof-of-work model, which is the one used by the Bitcoin network, requires much more energy than the proof-of-stake model. The negative impact on the crypto trading environment has been top of mind for many critics and supporters of cryptocurrencies, and Ethereum's switch to proof-of-stake, which consumes less power, is seen as a significant advance.

It will also lay the groundwork for other aspects of the network roadmap, such as making transactions more efficient.

Methods

To check the impact of the Merge on the Ethereum network, we examined several metrics:

> > 1. Mined blocks and miners > 2. Average Time Between Creation of 2 Blocks > 3. Average Transactions' Fees And Daily Average Gas Price > 4. The number of transactions and users and the volume of Ethereum transferred on the Ethereum network > 5. Volume of ETH Staked And Number of Stakers

:memo: Personally, I think the most important factors to understand whether a Merge was good or bad for the Ethereum network is to look at blocks, miners status, fees, and various user activities before and after the Merge event.

⚖️ Using the code below, I divided the time into two equal frames of about 2 weeks. 2 weeks before integration and 2 weeks after integration:

case
    when block_timestamp :: date >= '2022-09-01'
    and block_timestamp :: date <= '2022-09-15'
    and block_number < 15537394 then 'Before Merge'
    else 'After Merge'
end as "Time",

🗓️ I also limited the date to September 1 to now using the following conditions:

      block_timestamp :: date != CURRENT_DATE
      and block_timestamp :: date >= '2022-09-01'

:1234: The ethereum.core.fact_blocks, ethereum.core.fact_transactions and ethereum.core.EZ_TOKEN_TRANSFERS tables have been used to check the desired factors.

:white_check_mark: Finally, I would like to add that I used the following code to calculate the amount of Ethereum staked:

CASE
    when contract_address = lower('0xE95A203B1a91a908F9B9CE46459d101078c2c3cb') THEN 'Ankr'
    when contract_address = lower('0xae7ab96520de3a18e5e111b5eaab095312d7fe84') THEN 'Lido'
    when contract_address = lower('0xFe2e637202056d30016725477c5da089Ab0A043A') THEN 'Stakewise'
    when contract_address = lower('0xae78736Cd615f374D3085123A210448E74Fc6393') THEN 'Rocket Pool'
    when contract_address = lower('0x9559aaa82d9649c7a7b220e7c461d2e74c9a3593') THEN 'StaFi'
    when contract_address = lower('0x2C5Bcad9Ade17428874855913Def0A02D8bE2324') THEN 'pstake'
    when contract_address = lower('0x898BAD2774EB97cF6b94605677F43b41871410B1') THEN 'sharedstake'
end as platform

It should be noted that the date of Merge was September 15.

💠 Mined blocks and miners:

:chart: Analyze

I should mention here that in all the charts of this dashboard, the ==blue== bars represent the days before the Merge and the ==orange== bars represent the days after the Merge .

One of the most important metrics that can be used to tell if the Merge was good or bad? , the number of miners and mined blocks.

According to the chart above, right after the Merge event, the number of miners has increased by about ==10 times==! And it is also clear that the number of mined blocks has increased, and this means that the quality of the Ethereum network has increased :heartpulse:.

💠 Average Time Between Creation of 2 Blocks:

:chart: Analyze

Good! If the Merge is good for the Ethereum network, the time between the creation of 2 blocks should decrease. Let's see if it happened..

As we can see above, right after the Merge date, the time between the creation of 2 blocks has decreased significantly and is below the average (black line).

💠 Average Transactions' fees:

💠 Average Gas Price:

:chart: Analyze

In the chart above, you can see the transaction fees before and after the Merge. Also, the black line shows the average cost of transaction fees, which is well known, here we see a decrease after the Merge, and what's better than this for the lovely Ethereum network! :chart_with_downwards_trend:

:chart: Analyze

Also, in the discussion about the price of gas, we can see the decrease, which is also very good. :chart_with_downwards_trend:

So far everything has been great and we can see that the integration has been very beneficial for the Ethereum network.

💠 The number of transactions and users and the volume of Ethereum transferred:

:chart: Analyze

It is impossible to ignore the activities of users in the review of the Ethereum network! In the charts above, you can see the main statistics of the network daily before and after the Merge.

As it is known, the number of transactions is normal and has not changed significantly (except for 2 days before and 2 days after Merge). But the number of unique users who have used the network has grown slightly after the Merge. Also, in the third graph, we can see the volume of ethereums transferred, where there is almost no difference between the two time frames.

💠 Volume of ETH Staked And Number of Stakers:

:chart: Analyze

In the last part, we want to see how one of the most important user activities, which is the stake, has changed? Yes, very noticeable and clearly after the date of Merge (September 15), Ethereum deposited for staking to Ankr, Lido, Stakewise, Rocket Pool, StaFi, pstake and sharedstake platforms has increased :chart_with_upwards_trend: significantly. So, with this measure too, ==we have seen that the Merge has been good for the Ethereum network==.

Conclusion

• By reviewing and analyzing the information and charts of this dashboard, we concluded that the Merge event was Good for the Ethereum network.
• We also concluded that after the Merge date, the time between the creation of 2 blocks has decreased significantly and is below the average.
• We observed that after the Merge event, the number of miners has increased by about 10 times! And the number of mined blocks has increased.
• Also, in the factor of transaction fees and gas price in the Ethereum network, we saw a decrease in the averages after the Merge event.
• We saw that the number of transactions, the number of unique users and the volume of Ethereum transferred did not change significantly before and after the Merge, and the network was well responsive.
• Finally, we observed that after the date of Merge (September 15), Ethereum deposited for staking has increased.

Thanks for reading!

This analysis was created on 2022–09–29 for a bounty at Flipside Crypto by Hesam to answer the following questions: #Ethereum - Recently, ETH devs and observers have opined on Twitter regarding whether the Merge was good or bad for the Ethereum network. We want you to prove one side or the other, with the help of Flipside data. Demonstrate whether the Merge had positive or negative effects on the network. Include least three queries and visualizations in your submission.

All data used are from Flipside Crypto.

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