What makes Ethereum blockchain transactions be processed fast or slow? An empirical study

The Ethereum platform allows developers to implement and deploy applications called ÐApps onto the blockchain for public use through the use of smart contracts. To execute code within a smart contract, a paid transaction must be issued towards one of the functions that are exposed in the interface of a contract. However, such a transaction is only processed once one of the miners in the peer-to-peer network selects it, adds it to a block, and appends that block to the blockchain This creates a delay between transaction submission and code execution. It is crucial for ÐApp developers to be able to precisely estimate when transactions will be processed, since this allows them to define and provide a certain Quality of Service (QoS) level (e.g., 95% of the transactions processed within 1 minute). However, the impact that different factors have on these times have not yet been studied. Processing time estimation services are used by ÐApp developers to achieve predefined QoS. Yet, these services offer minimal insights into what factors impact processing times. Considering the vast amount of data that surrounds the Ethereum blockchain, changes in processing times are hard for ÐApp developers to predict, making it difficult to maintain said QoS. In our study, we build random forest models to understand the factors that are associated with transaction processing times. We engineer several features that capture blockchain internal factors, as well as gas pricing behaviors of transaction issuers. By interpreting our models, we conclude that features surrounding gas pricing behaviors are very strongly associated with transaction processing times. Based on our empirical results, we provide ÐApp developers with concrete insights that can help them provide and maintain high levels of QoS.