Transaction fee mechanism (TFM) is an essential component of a blockchain protocol. However, a systematic evaluation of the real-world impact of TFMs is still absent. Using rich data from the Ethereum blockchain, mempool, and exchanges, we study the effect of EIP-1559, one of the first deployed TFMs that depart from the traditional first-price auction paradigm. We conduct a rigorous and comprehensive empirical study to examine its causal effect on blockchain transaction fee dynamics, transaction waiting time and security. Our results show that EIP-1559 improves the user experience by making fee estimation easier, mitigating intra-block difference of gas price paid, and reducing users' waiting times. However, EIP-1559 has only a small effect on gas fee levels and consensus security. In addition, we found that when Ether's price is more volatile, the waiting time is significantly higher. We also verify that a larger block size increases the presence of siblings. These findings suggest new directions for improving TFM.
翻译:交易费机制(TFM)是链链协议的一个基本组成部分。然而,对于TFM对真实世界的影响仍缺乏系统评估。我们利用Etheum 链、 混合池和交易所的丰富数据,研究EIP-1559的影响,EIP-1559是首批部署的偏离传统的第一价格拍卖范式的TFM之一。我们进行了严格和全面的实证研究,以研究其对链链交易费动态、交易等待时间和安全的因果关系。我们的结果显示EIP-1559通过简化收费估算、减少已付天然气价格的区内差异和减少用户的等候时间,改善了用户的经验。然而,EIP-1559对天然气收费水平和共识安全作用很小。此外,我们发现当Ether的价格波动更大时,等待时间要高得多。我们还核实更大的区块面积会增加兄弟姐妹的存在。这些调查结果为改进TFM提供了新的方向。