Following the completion of The Merge upgrade, Ethereum (ETH<\/a>) transitioned into a proof-of-stake (PoS)<\/a> consensus mechanism, helping the blockchain become energy efficient and secure. However, mining data reveals Ethereum\u2019s heavy reliance on Flashbots \u2014 a single server \u2014 for building blocks, raising concerns over a single point of failure for the ecosystem.<\/p>\n Flashbots is a centralized entity dedicated to transparent and efficient Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) extraction, which acts as a relay for delivering Ethereum blocks. Data<\/a> from mevboost.org show that there are six active relays currently delivering at least one block in Ethereum, namely Flashbots, BloXroute Max Profit, BloXroute Ethical, BloXroute Regulated, Blocknative and Eden. <\/p>\n As shown above, out of the lot, 82.77% of all relay blocks have been found to be built by Flashbots alone \u2014 contributing heavily to Ethereum centralization. <\/p>\n A related blog<\/a> from BitMEX highlighted the need for a complete redevelopment of Flashbots or a similar system to mitigate unforeseen complications in an era after the Merge. However, Flashbots proponents argue that the system is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and will eventually become decentralized itself. <\/p>\n Related: <\/em><\/strong>Ethereum Merge: Community reacts with memes, GIFs and tributes<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Complementing the data related to Flashbots\u2019 dominance, an analysis from Santiment indicated<\/a> that 46.15% of Ethereum\u2019s PoS nodes are controlled by only two addresses.<\/p>\n According to our #Ethereum<\/a> Post Merge Inflation dashboard, 46.15% of the #proofofstake<\/a> nodes for storing data, processing transactions, and adding new #blockchain<\/a> blocks can be attributed to just two addresses. This heavy dominance by these addresses is something to watch. pic.twitter.com\/KQdFNgGloD<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-09\/69a7f29b-6649-459c-833f-221b9e5faad8.png\")
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