To Broadcast or Not to Broadcast: Decision-Making Strategies for Mining Empty Blocks

Chon Kit Lao, Rui Jiang, Luyao Zhang, Fan Zhang, Ye Wang

Abstract: Resource efficiency in blockchain systems remains a pivotal concern in their design. While Ethereum often experiences network congestion, leading to rewarding opportunities for miners through transaction inclusions, a significant amount of block space remains underutilized. Remarkably, instances of entirely unutilized blocks contribute to resource wastage within the Ethereum ecosystem. This study delves into the incentives driving miners to produce empty blocks. We ascertain that the immediate rewards of mining empty blocks often lead miners to forego potential benefits from transaction inclusions. Moreover, our investigation reveals a marked reduction in empty blocks after the Ethereum's Merge, highlighting that the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism enhances block space efficiency in the blockchain sphere.