Understanding the Metamask Transaction Lifecycle: A Step-by-Step Guide

Metamask is a popular web wallet and decentralized application (dApp) platform that allows users to interact with various Ethereum-compatible applications without having to worry about the complexities of transaction verification. However, when sending money from one address to another using Metamask, there are a number of transactions that occur behind the scenes, which can be overwhelming for new users. In this article, we’ll break down the Metamask transaction lifecycle and explain what happens during each step.

Step 1: Create a Transaction

When you click the “Send” button in your MetaMask wallet, a new transaction is created to send funds from address A to address B. Here’s what happens:

• The transaction is initiated by the MetaMask application, which sends a request to the Ethereum network (Ethereum.org) for a new transaction.

• The EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) creates a new transaction and creates a unique identifier called the “transaction ID”.

• A transaction structure is built, which includes the sender address, recipient address, gas limit, gas price, and other relevant information.

Step 2: Calculate the gas price

Before sending the transaction, MetaMask calculates the optimal gas price to use for the transaction. This is done by taking into account factors such as:

• The complexity of the transaction (e.g., using complex contract functions or calling external libraries)

• The number of gas units required to execute the transaction

• Estimated gas prices on the Ethereum network

MetaMask uses a smart contract called “gasPriceEstimator” to estimate the optimal gas price. This contract takes into account a number of factors, including:

• The user’s MetaMask balance (to ensure sufficient funds for the transaction)

• The sender and recipient addresses (to minimize gas costs)

• The structure and complexity of the transaction

Step 3: Pay for Gas

After estimating the gas price, MetaMask will request a gas payment from your MetaMask account. This involves:

• Sending a request to the Ethereum network to pay the gas amount

• Using the gas prices calculated by gasPriceEstimator as the payment basis

4. Step 5: Verify the transaction

After paying the gas fee, the transaction is verified and executed on the Ethereum network:

• The EVM checks the structure of the transaction and ensures that it complies with the specified rules

• The transaction is broadcast to the network for validation and confirmation

• If the transaction passes the verification, it is added to the blockchain and a “block” is created.

Step 5: Create a block

If multiple transactions are combined into a single block, the system merges them and creates a new block. This process is called “block merging”.

Step 6: Settle the transaction

Once the block is created, it is sent to the Ethereum network for verification and settlement:

• The EVM checks the contents of the block and ensures that everything is correct

• The transaction is re-verified on the network (if any)

• After verification, the block is added to the blockchain

7. Step 3: Confirmation

The final step in the Metamask transaction lifecycle is confirmation. Here it is:

• If the sender has sufficient funds, a “confirmation” message is returned by MetaMask indicating that the transaction was successfully processed.

• The transaction is marked as complete and added to the blockchain

In summary, when you send 1 ETH from address A to address B using Metamask, a number of transactions occur behind the scenes. From the initial transaction request to the blockchain verification and settlement, each step plays a crucial role in the smooth execution of the transaction.

Please note that this is a simplified explanation of the Metamask transaction lifecycle.