 Two builders produce 88% of Ethereum blocks in October, raising concerns 
2024-10-17

Two Ethereum block builders produced the majority of blocks during the first two weeks of October, raising concerns about centralization on the world’s second-largest blockchain network. 
Ethereum block builders Beaverbuild and Titan Builder were responsible for 88.7% of all blocks produced over the past two weeks on the mainnet, according to Toni Wahrstätter, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation. 
Wahrstätter wrote in an Oct. 17 X post:

The degree of decentralization on Ethereum is critical to maintaining the protocol’s security. Centralized entities controlling a large percentage of transactions could theoretically prioritize certain transactions, which goes against the decentralized ethos of blockchain technology. 
Not necessarily an Ethereum centralization concern — Bitget Research
Despite the dominance of the two builders, this doesn’t necessarily introduce significant centralization concerns, according to Ryan Lee, chief analyst at Bitget Research. 
Lee told Cointelegraph:
According to Lee, this means that block builders are unable to prioritize specific transactions. He added:
Others remain concerned despite Ethereum’s robust consensus model.
Notably, powerful validators exploiting maximal extractable value (MEV) incentives could “disproportionately” influence the network, according to software engineer Kishan Kumar, who wrote in a July 23 blog post:
Does Ethereum need stronger censorship resistance?
The centralization concerns raised by the dominance of these two block builders could be mitigated through stronger censorship resistance on Ethereum, Wahrstätter added:
However, the Ethereum validator count rose by over 30% in the past year, driven largely by increased institutional adoption of cryptocurrency, which is seen as a positive sign for the network’s decentralization.
Unlocking Ethereum’s Potential: ETH Dencun Upgrade & ETF. Source: YouTube 