Ethereum Transactions: Formats and Gasless Meta Transactions

Table of Contents

• 1. Transaction Formats and Broadcasting Process

  • 1.1. EIP-2718
  • 1.2. EIP-2930 (Type 1)
  • 1.3. EIP-1559 (Type 2)
  • 1.4. EIP-4844 (Type 3)
  • 1.5. EIP-7702 (Type 4)

• 2. Meta Transactions (Gasless)

  • 2.1. Core Principles
  • 2.2. Centralized Relayers
  • 2.3. Decentralized Relayers
  • 2.4. Security Considerations

1. Transaction Formats and Broadcasting Process

The Ethereum transaction submission process involves sending signed transaction data via the eth_sendRawTransaction RPC method. The transaction input contains nine key elements:

1. Nonce (account sequence number)
2. Gas price (transaction fee rate)
3. Gas limit (maximum gas consumption)
4. To (recipient address)
5. Value (ETH amount)
6. Input data (contract call parameters)
7. Chain ID (network identifier)
8. 0 (EIP-155 padding)
9. 0 (EIP-155 padding)

Transaction hashes are calculated as:
TxHash = Keccak256(RawTransaction)

1.1. EIP-2718

Introduced transaction type tagging:

• Legacy transactions (EIP-155 format)
• Typed transactions (TransactionType || TransactionPayload)

👉 Learn more about Ethereum improvements

1.2. EIP-2930 (Type 1)

Format:
0x01 || rlp([chainId, nonce, gasPrice, gasLimit, to, value, data, accessList, signatureYParity, signatureR, signatureS])

1.3. EIP-1559 (Type 2)

Replaced gasPrice with:

• maxPriorityFeePerGas (miner tip)
• maxFeePerGas (total maximum fee)

Fee allocation:

1. Base fee (burned)
2. Priority fee (to miner)

Actual fee paid:
min(maxFeePerGas, baseFeePerGas + maxPriorityFeePerGas) * gasUsed

👉 Master Ethereum transactions

1.4. EIP-4844 (Type 3)

Introduced blob-carrying transactions for scaling:
0x03 || rlp([chain_id, nonce, max_priority_fee_per_gas, max_fee_per_gas, gas_limit, to, value, data, access_list, max_fee_per_blob_gas, blob_versioned_hashes, y_parity, r, s])

1.5. EIP-7702 (Type 4)

Account abstraction transactions:
0x04 || rlp([chain_id, nonce, max_priority_fee_per_gas, max_fee_per_gas, gas_limit, to, value, data, access_list, authorization_list, y_parity, r, s])

2. Meta Transactions (Gasless)

Enable users to interact with contracts without holding ETH by having third-party relayers cover gas costs.

2.1. Core Principles

Key implementation requirements:

1. Users sign function parameters
2. Contracts verify signatures via ecrecover
3. Use recovered address instead of msg.sender

2.2. Centralized Relayers

Basic workflow:

1. User signs transaction data
2. Relayer validates and resubmits
3. Contract verifies original user signature

2.3. Decentralized Relayers

Solutions like Gas Station Network (GSN) provide trustless relaying infrastructure.

2.4. Security Considerations

Critical protections:

• Nonce tracking per user
• Transaction expiry timestamps
• Rate limiting for anti-spam

FAQ

What makes EIP-1559 transactions special?

They separate miner compensation from network fees and introduce predictable base fees that adjust per block.

How do meta transactions benefit users?

They enable wallet-less interactions and eliminate ETH requirements for contract interactions - perfect for onboarding new users.

Are EIP-4844 transactions live?

Yes, they were activated during Ethereum's Dencun upgrade as part of proto-danksharding implementation.

What security measures protect relayers?

Nonce systems prevent replay attacks, while expiry timestamps ensure stale transactions become invalid.

Can legacy transactions still work?

Yes, Ethereum maintains backward compatibility with pre-EIP-1559 transaction formats.

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