Lehar / Parlour Paper

The analysis begins with an examination of block mining times, specifically focusing on the occurrence of empty blocks in the blockchain. Historically, since 2013, the data showed that the average time to mine an empty block was marginally longer than that for a full block, with empty blocks taking approximately 9.69 minutes versus 9.49 minutes for full blocks. This observation led to an investigation into the frequency and timing of these empty blocks compared to their non-empty counterparts.

A significant observation from the data was that a large number of non-empty blocks were mined very quickly after their predecessors, within a minute or even less than five seconds, indicating a high efficiency in block production during those instances. Conversely, a smaller but notable quantity of empty blocks took more than 10 minutes to be mined following their preceding block. This raised questions about the cause of these delays and the prevalence of empty blocks over time.

To explore these queries, a script was utilized to analyze the mining timestamps of blocks within a specific height range on the blockchain. The script's findings revealed that empty blocks are considerably less common in recent times, with most of them being mined within a minute of their parent block, and none exceeding a 10-minute interval from their predecessor. This trend suggests improvements in mining pool competencies and a decrease in the frequency of empty blocks being mined.

Further analysis was conducted for the period between March 2015 and January 2017, which indicated a significantly higher occurrence of empty blocks, along with a greater variance in their timestamp differences compared to their parent blocks. Some empty blocks during this period had timestamps that were nearly an hour after their parent block, highlighting a stark contrast to the more recent data. The entirety of the results for this earlier period can be found in a detailed gist, due to the voluminous nature of the data.

This comprehensive analysis sheds light on the evolving landscape of blockchain mining, particularly regarding the efficiency and frequency of empty block occurrences. It underscores a noticeable improvement in mining practices over time, leading to fewer empty blocks and more consistent mining intervals.