Coin Metrics is pleased to share our second update in a series of announcements regarding our plans for the upcoming Ethereum protocol upgrade, The Merge. As a reminder, The Merge will facilitate Ethereum’s shift from a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to Proof of Stake (PoS).
The transition has taken many years of community coordination and protocol engineering, representing a critical milestone for the world’s 2nd-largest cryptoasset. This work began with the creation of Beacon Chain (now referred to as the Consensus Layer), which will orchestrate the construction of Ethereum blocks via Proof of Stake consensus. Soon, the Consensus Layer will “merge” with Ethereum’s Execution Layer, which currently coordinates the execution of transactions and smart contracts.
For a more in-depth technical primer on the mechanics of the Merge, we highly recommend checking out our Mapping Out the Merge report, which breaks down the most important moving parts of The Merge and its implications for the future of Ethereum.
Following the Consensus Layer’s successful Bellatrix upgrade on September 6, the final phase of the Merge— known as the Paris hard fork— is currently projected to occur sometime between September 13-15. With the final deadline for the Merge fast approaching, the Coin Metrics team would like to share some additional details on how specific metrics will be impacted.
The most important thing to note is that, for the near future, the ETH ticker will continue to serve metrics for the Ethereum Execution Layer. Metrics for the Ethereum Consensus Layer will be served under a new ETH_CL ticker.
The following metrics are based on Ethereum Proof-of-Work consensus, and as a result will no longer be supported under the legacy ETH ticker. After the Merge, these metrics will drop to zero:
‘HashRate’, ‘HashRate30d’, ‘MCRC’, ‘MCTC’, ‘MOMR’, ‘PuellMulRev’, ‘RCTC’, ‘RevAllTimeUSD’, ‘RevHash1yAvgNtv’, ‘RevHash1yAvgUSD’, ‘RevHashNtv’, ‘RevHashRateNtv’, ‘RevHashRateUSD’, ‘RevHashUSD’
The following issuance metrics will no longer be calculated on the ETH Execution Layer, as the protocol’s issuance mechanism will be moved to the ETH Consensus Layer:
‘IssContNtv’, ‘IssContPctAnn’, ‘IssContPctDay’, ‘IssContUSD’, ‘IssTotNtv’, ‘IssTotUSD’
For the time being, there will be no changes to ETH supply data, and the first phase of new metrics will not include the addition of Consensus Layer issuance, supply, or staking yield metrics. Although we will not be serving staking yield metrics in this initial phase, it is possible to derive various yield-related data from other newly-introduced Consensus Layer metrics.
We will also be deprecating a number of ETH Proof of Work-based metrics supported by our FARUM risk management solution:
‘block_count_by_unknown_miners_25b_hi’, ‘consecutive_empty_blocks_2b_hi’, ‘hashrate_drop_1d_lo’, ‘difficulty_decrease_10b_lo’, ‘block_difficulty’, ‘block_difficulty_change’, ‘block_fees’, ‘block_hashrate_mean_1d’, ‘block_count_by_unknown_miners_6b’, ‘block_count_at_tip’, ‘block_count_empty_6b’, ‘block_fees’
Though miners will no longer be involved in ETH consensus, Miner Flow Metrics have been updated so that users can continue to capture transfer activity linked to legacy miner addresses:
‘FlowMinerIn0HopAllExNtv’, ‘FlowMinerIn0HopAllExUSD’, ‘FlowMinerIn0HopAllNtv’,
‘FlowMinerIn0HopAllUSD’, ‘FlowMinerIn1HopAllBFXNtv’, ‘FlowMinerIn1HopAllBFXUSD’,….
‘FlowMinerOut1HopAllPOLNtv’, ‘FlowMinerOut1HopAllPOLUSD’, ‘FlowMinerOut1HopAllUSD’, ‘SplyMiner0HopAllNtv’, ‘SplyMiner0HopAllUSD’, ‘SplyMiner1HopAllNtv’, ‘SplyMiner1HopAllUSD’
For a full list of Miner Flow Metrics, please visit our Data Encyclopedia.
New Metrics
While the majority of activities on the Ethereum Execution Layer and the Ethereum Consensus Layer will remain isolated from one another, the Beacon Chain staking contract provides an insightful lens into how these layers interact. We will be introducing the following new metrics under the ETH ticker to help users better understand the dynamics of staking deposits originating from the Execution Layer:
- ‘SplyCLCont‘ – Total ETH sent to the CL Contract
- ‘FlowToCLCont’ – ETH sent to the CL Contract over a daily interval
- ‘SenderTotCLCont’ – Unique count of all “senders” to the CL contract
- ‘SenderCntCLCont’ – New addresses that have sent to the CL Contract
- ‘SplyLidoCont’ – Total ETH sent to the Lido staking contract
In addition to making adjustments to our existing universe of Ethereum Execution Layer metrics, we will also be adding support for new Ethereum Consensus Layer metrics under the ETH_CL ticker:
- ‘ValidatorCnt‘ – Total number of validators
- ‘ValidatorAddCnt1d’ – Number of validators added daily
- ‘ValidatorRemCnt1d’ – Number of validators removed daily
- ‘SplyActStkedNtv’ – Supply from validators that were active that day
- ‘SplyTotStkedNtv’ – Sum of all validator balances (regardless of status, i.e. slashing)
- ‘SplyStkedNtv’ – Supply staked by validators
- ‘ValidatorPndInitCnt’ – Number of pending ineligible validators
- ‘ValidatorPndQedCnt’ – Number of pending activation validators
- ‘ValidatorActOngCnt’ – Number of active validators
- ‘ValidatorActExtCnt’ – Number of active exited validators
- ‘ValidatorActSlhCnt’ – Number of slashed active validators
- ‘ValidatorExtUnslhCnt’ – Number of exited validators
- ‘ValidatorExtSlhCnt’ – Number of exited slashed validators
How can you stay updated? In the coming weeks, Coin Metrics will be closely monitoring the events surrounding the Merge and will continue to publish detailed client communications to ensure you know what to expect. This will include in-depth research, announcements on changes to the Merge timeline, and additional notifications regarding important product changes. In addition to Email and Slack, you can keep updated through the following channels:
For more details on our Ethereum Merge metric coverage, please visit our Merge FAQ in the Coin Metrics Data Encyclopedia.
