A Third of Ethereum's Nodes Now Sit in the United States

Cambridge maps where Ethereum's nodes physically run

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) published new research on 10 July 2026 that maps where Ethereum's infrastructure physically sits. The findings come from a physical audit of the network rather than self-reported data. The report, titled "Ethereum After the Merge – A Change in Power," finds that the United States hosts 31% of the roughly 8,522 discoverable nodes securing the network. That makes the United States the single largest location for Ethereum node activity. Germany hosts 16% of full nodes, Finland 8% and France 6%. Together those four countries account for about 62% of the total. The study also found that around 64% of nodes run inside cloud or enterprise data centres, with Hetzner, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and OVH carrying much of that load.

Node concentration raises questions about resilience

Ethereum finalises transactions only when at least two-thirds of validators stay online. Provider clustering means a handful of companies host a large share of nodes. According to The Block, a large simultaneous outage among clustered hosts could in principle delay finalisation, which is why geographic and provider concentration draws scrutiny. Node geography has attracted regulatory attention before. The Block noted that in 2022 the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) argued it held jurisdiction over Ethereum partly because many nodes sat on US soil.

Power use stayed 99.9% below pre-Merge levels

The study puts Ethereum's annual electricity consumption at about 7.87 gigawatt-hours (GWh), the equivalent of roughly 0.90 megawatts of continuous power. That is more than 99.9% below the network's final proof-of-work levels. Ethereum switched from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake on 15 September 2022, an event known as the Merge. The figures come from a bottom-up audit that profiled 20 client combinations across two reference machines. About 36% of nodes run on residential hardware and 64% inside data centres, producing a network-weighted average of about 105 watts per node. That average sits close to the power draw of a standard laptop. The network's annual climate footprint now stands at about 2.37 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent.

"The drop at the Merge is well documented. What matters now is keeping the picture accurate as the network evolves.", 10 July 2026. — Alexander Neumüller, Research Lead, Digital Assets Energy & Climate Impact, CCAF

Renewables and nuclear power most of the network

Weighted across the grids that host its nodes, about 56.4% of the electricity powering Ethereum comes from sustainable sources, meaning renewables and nuclear. That is higher than the roughly 43% those sources supply worldwide. The share reflects the mix of grids in the countries where nodes cluster. CCAF said the network's emissions should fall further as host grids decarbonise, even if absolute electricity use holds steady.

Stateless verification could lower the hardware barrier

CCAF said active research into stateless verification could eventually let nodes run on devices as small as smartphones. Stateless clients would let operators verify the chain without storing its full state. That change would cut the power each node needs. The centre said the net effect on total consumption remains open, because cheaper participation could sharply increase the number of operators.

Ether traded near $1,800 at publication

Ether (ETH), Ethereum's native token, traded at $1,802.57 at the time of publication, up 1.22% over the past 24 hours (CoinPaprika, 11 July 2026). Its market value stood at about $217 billion, and Ethereum ranks as the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value. The research covered network infrastructure and energy use, not market prices.

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