This repository holds the data and code used for the paper "Decentralization of Ethereum's Builder Market".
Note: Please download eth_blocks.parquet and level.db from our public datasets and place them in the data folder. Also, download all private_transactions_{month}.parquet files and place them in the data/private_transactions folder to ensure the code works properly.
Below is a brief introduction to the datasets provided in this paper and their potential benefits for future research.
eth_blocks.parquet is a Parquet file that stores all blocks and winning bids from historical MEV-Boost auctions between September 2022 and October 2024. It includes the bid value, true value, builder, and relay information for each block produced through MEV-Boost, making it useful for future analyses of MEV-Boost auctions.
The data/private_transactions folder consists of monthly Parquet files named as private_transactions_{month}.parquet, each storing private order flows, their sources, and values from September 2022 to October 2024.
JSON files containing mappings between builder public keys (addresses) and builder identities are available in the data folder. Our labeled identities help researchers and developers quickly identify builders, saving time on MEV-Boost auction data analysis.
builders.json: The mapping between builder public keys and builder identities.addresses.json: The mapping between builder addresses and builder identities.
The CSV file contains the addresses of the searchers' smart contracts.
The partial bids for historical MEV-Boost auctions between September 2022 and October 2024 are available in the public datasets.
This dataset includes the public keys and bids of all builders in historical MEV-Boost auctions, offering a granular view of auction dynamics and enabling researchers to model the bidding behavior of builders.
The data/index folder includes all intermediate results of true values we computed from historical MEV-Boost auctions (April 9-15 and May 1-7 to December 1-7, 2023).
The computed true values for auctions provide insights into the actual value of bids in historical MEV-Boost auctions, allowing for the evaluation of the competition among builders and the inequality in their block-building capacities.
level.db is a SQLite database file that stores pivotal providers from historical MEV-Boost auctions between September 2022 and October 2024. This file can help researchers identify key sources of valuable transactions in these auctions and assess their impact on outcomes.
Python3 and Jupyter Notebook are required to reproduce the figures and tables, and you can run pip install -r requirements.txt to install the following libraries:
fastparquet==2024.5.0
matplotlib==3.9.1.post1
numpy==1.26.4
pandas==2.2.2
seaborn==0.13.2
scipy==1.14.1
data: The folder for data.images: The folder where the output images are stored.pivotal_provider.py: A script to compute pivotal providers from historical MEV-Boost auctions between September 2022 and October 2024.plot.ipynb: A Jupyter notebook to reproduce all results in the paper.time_util.py: A script that defines time utility functions for computing Ethereum slots.validate_bids_representativeness.py: A script to validate the representativeness of the bids from ultra sound relay.
The simulation framework we built for computing the true value of historical bids is available in our reth fork.
Consider cite our work if you find our contributions helpful!
@inproceedings{yang2025decentralization,
title={Decentralization of Ethereum's Builder Market},
author={Yang, Sen and Nayak, Kartik and Zhang, Fan},
booktitle={2025 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP)},
pages={1512--1530},
year={2025},
organization={IEEE}
}