Execution Layer

The execution layer is the part of Ethereum's architecture responsible for processing transactions and running smart contract code via the Ethereum Virtual Machine — functionally, the part of Ethereum most similar to what the entire network was before the Merge.

Since the Merge, the execution layer works together with the consensus layer (see Kaavon's "Consensus Layer" glossary definition), which handles validator coordination and block finality, as two cooperating halves of Ethereum's overall architecture. See Kaavon's "The Ethereum Merge and Proof of Stake" guide for how the two combined.