Using the Ethereum Merge upgrade — a transition from Proof-of-Work (PoW) to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) — as a natural experiment, this study identifies a cooperation channel driven by informed PoS validators, in contrast to the energy-intensive competition among PoW miners. We document that PoS achieves more efficient consensus through shorter block times and higher transaction throughput, and find increased informed trading post-Merge. Our findings suggest that PoS achieves enhanced economic efficiency through informed validator cooperation and stake value maximization.

中文翻译：

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过渡到权益证明和明智的交易


使用以太坊合并升级——从工作量证明 （PoW） 到权益证明 （PoS） 的过渡——作为一项自然实验，本研究确定了一个由知情的 PoS 验证者驱动的合作渠道，这与 PoW 矿工之间的能源密集型竞争形成鲜明对比。我们记录了 PoS 通过更短的区块时间和更高的交易吞吐量实现更有效的共识，并发现合并后知情交易增加。我们的研究结果表明，PoS 通过知情的验证者合作和股权价值最大化来实现更高的经济效率。