An analysis of empty blocks on Ethereum

Due to the structure of mining on proof-of-work-based blockchain networks, miners are incentivized to mine empty blocks. The Block has previously explained this game theory in our analysis of empty blocks on Bitcoin.

On Bitcoin, empty blocks are a misnomer, as these blocks do include one transaction: the coinbase block reward transaction. On Ethereum, however, empty blocks are literally empty, i.e., they include zero transactions. This is possibly due to Ethereum’s account-based transaction structure. When miners on Ethereum find a block, they reward themselves the block reward not by sending themselves a transaction but instead updating their account balances with the block reward. Therefore, for our analysis of empty blocks on Ethereum, we will define empty blocks as blocks with zero transactions.