The fact is that the number of relays has dropped to 4. Now more than 90% of all transactions are processed only by these “block collectors,” which raises concerns among experts.
The issue of decentralization arose very recently after Blocknative’s decision to stop relaying MEV-boost. Relayers play a key role in conducting transactions on Ethereum. They provide timely and efficient processing by bridging the gap between users and the blockchain using a data batching and broadcast back method.
Today, almost all transfers on Ethereum use MEV-boost relays. According to data collected by mevboost.pics, 93% of Ethereum blocks created in the last 14 days were processed by 4 companies. At the time of data collection, 5 organizations were responsible for relaying 98% of transactions, according to Relayscan. $ETH
