TLDR Tech / Crypto
Is the Slot-0 Reorg Cost Fixable?
Twenty-one months of Ethereum mainnet data show slot-0 blocks orphaned at 1.17% versus 0.16% for other slots, with the slot-0 rate tripling from 0.58% in H2 2024 to 1.73% in H1 2026 while baseline rates held flat. The driver is relay bid misses at epoch transitions that force local block construction at the network's peak load moment, producing propagation delays: orphaned slot-0 blocks reach median first-sighting at 4.4s versus 2.1s for survivors, and 62% of orphaned blocks were locally-built compared to just 11% of survivors. Researchers recommend setting Glamsterdam's attestation deadline at 3s over 2s (84% of slot-0 survivors clear 3s versus 61% at 2s), pairing that with maximum-blob limits for local builder fallbacks and targeted remediation of upbit's build practices, classifying slot-0 orphaning as solvable production engineering rather than a structural floor.
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