Doesn't the origin ethereum before the Merge have a consensus layer(the PoW consensus) too? If so, why it's called the execution layer now, and only the Merge is called the execution layer?
Ethereum Merge – Why is Pre-Merge Called Execution Layer and Post-Merge Called Consensus Layer?
consensuseth-2.0the-merge
Best Answer
The Beacon Chain is the Proof of Stake consensus layer. Conceptually, the execution chain gets merged with the Beacon Chain:
Source: https://github.com/ethereum/annotated-spec/blob/master/merge/beacon-chain.md#introduction