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On-Chain Data: The Mempool

On-chain, or blockchain data, is a valuable source of information for anyone interested in digital assets. On-chain data includes transactions on a blockchain, users’ wallet addresses, smart contract information, and mempool data. A mempool is a hub of pending transactions that have not yet been selected by miners or validators to be included in a block.

Mempool data is ephemeral, meaning transaction information not included in a block is lost forever. Because exchanges themselves do not record this valuable data, leveraging the mempool requires deep historical and real-time collection of blockchain transactions.

A popular form of mempool analysis is to investigate the “time-in-flight,” or how long a transaction stays in the mempool before being validated within a block. Analysis of time-in-flight data can help users investigate transaction times and gas fees, compare metrics between different exchanges, and even assist with an arbitrage trade.

 

For example, here is a time-in-flight analysis of two transactions using the Amberdata Mempool endpoint. One transaction is from the Coinbase 4 ETH hot wallet and the other is from a CryptoPunk NFT. 

 

Screenshot 2023-05-01 at 11.36.32 AM

 

The Coinbase 4 transaction was seven seconds slower than the CryptoPunk transaction. This delay could be a result of the size of the transaction, the transaction fees, or many other variables. Further analysis of historical time-in-flight data could indicate how token types or adverse events affects the validation of transactions.