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Legacy Transactions

Original Ethereum transaction format with fixed gas price and EIP-155 replay protection.

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Overview

Legacy transactions (Type 0) are the original transaction format used since Ethereum genesis. They use a fixed gasPrice and encode chain ID in the v signature component for replay protection (EIP-155).

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Type Definition

type Legacy = {
  type: Type.Legacy       // 0x00
  nonce: bigint
  gasPrice: bigint        // Fixed gas price in wei
  gasLimit: bigint
  to: AddressType | null  // null for contract creation
  value: bigint           // Amount in wei
  data: Uint8Array        // Contract data or empty
  v: bigint               // Signature component + chain ID
  r: Uint8Array           // 32-byte signature
  s: Uint8Array           // 32-byte signature
}
Source: types.ts:59-72

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Creating Legacy Transactions

import * as Transaction from 'tevm/Transaction'

// Simple transfer
const transfer: Transaction.Legacy = {
  type: Transaction.Type.Legacy,
  nonce: 0n,
  gasPrice: 20000000000n,  // 20 gwei
  gasLimit: 21000n,
  to: recipientAddress,
  value: 1000000000000000000n,  // 1 ETH
  data: new Uint8Array(),
  v: 37n,  // Chain ID 1
  r: signatureR,
  s: signatureS,
}

// Contract creation (to: null)
const deploy: Transaction.Legacy = {
  type: Transaction.Type.Legacy,
  nonce: 0n,
  gasPrice: 20000000000n,
  gasLimit: 3000000n,
  to: null,  // Contract creation
  value: 0n,
  data: contractBytecode,
  v: 37n,
  r: signatureR,
  s: signatureS,
}

// Contract call
const contractCall: Transaction.Legacy = {
  type: Transaction.Type.Legacy,
  nonce: 1n,
  gasPrice: 25000000000n,
  gasLimit: 100000n,
  to: contractAddress,
  value: 0n,
  data: encodedFunctionCall,
  v: 37n,
  r: signatureR,
  s: signatureS,
}

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EIP-155: Chain ID Encoding

EIP-155 adds replay protection by encoding chain ID in the v value.

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v Value Calculation

// Pre-EIP-155 (not recommended)
v = 27 + yParity  // yParity is 0 or 1

// Post-EIP-155 (recommended)
v = chainId * 2 + 35 + yParity

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Examples

// Mainnet (chain ID 1)
v = 1 * 2 + 35 + 0 = 37  // yParity 0
v = 1 * 2 + 35 + 1 = 38  // yParity 1

// Goerli (chain ID 5)
v = 5 * 2 + 35 + 0 = 45  // yParity 0

// Polygon (chain ID 137)
v = 137 * 2 + 35 + 0 = 309  // yParity 0

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getChainId

Extract chain ID from v value. 
function getChainId(tx: BrandedTransactionLegacy): bigint | null

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Returns

  • bigint - Chain ID if EIP-155 transaction
  • null - If pre-EIP-155 transaction (v = 27 or 28)

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Usage

import { Legacy } from 'tevm/Transaction'

const tx: Transaction.Legacy = {
  type: Transaction.Type.Legacy,
  // ...
  v: 37n,
  // ...
}

const chainId = Legacy.getChainId.call(tx)
console.log(chainId)  // 1n

// Pre-EIP-155
const oldTx: Transaction.Legacy = {
  type: Transaction.Type.Legacy,
  // ...
  v: 27n,
  // ...
}

const noChainId = Legacy.getChainId.call(oldTx)
console.log(noChainId)  // null
Implementation: 
if (tx.v === 27n || tx.v === 28n) {
  return null  // Pre-EIP-155
}
return (tx.v - 35n) / 2n  // EIP-155
Source: Legacy/getChainId.js

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Methods

All standard transaction methods work with legacy transactions: 
import { Legacy } from 'tevm/Transaction'

// Serialization
const bytes = Legacy.serialize.call(legacyTx)
const decoded = Legacy.deserialize(bytes)

// Hashing
const txHash = Legacy.hash.call(legacyTx)
const signingHash = Legacy.getSigningHash.call(legacyTx)

// Signing
const sender = Legacy.getSender.call(legacyTx)
const isValid = Legacy.verifySignature.call(legacyTx)

// Chain ID
const chainId = Legacy.getChainId.call(legacyTx)

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RLP Encoding

Legacy transactions encode directly as RLP list (no type prefix): 
rlp([nonce, gasPrice, gasLimit, to, value, data, v, r, s])
Example: 
// Transaction
{
  nonce: 9n,
  gasPrice: 20000000000n,
  gasLimit: 21000n,
  to: 0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc9e7595f51e3e,
  value: 1000000000000000000n,
  data: 0x,
  v: 37n,
  r: 0x1234...,
  s: 0x5678...
}

// RLP encodes to:
// [0xf8, 0x6c, ...] - RLP list, no type prefix

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Signing Hash

Legacy signing hash includes chain ID for EIP-155 transactions: 
// Pre-EIP-155
signingHash = keccak256(rlp([nonce, gasPrice, gasLimit, to, value, data]))

// Post-EIP-155
signingHash = keccak256(rlp([nonce, gasPrice, gasLimit, to, value, data, chainId, 0, 0]))
                                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                                                          adds chain ID + zeros

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Gas Cost Calculation

Legacy transactions use simple gas cost: 
const totalCost = gasPrice * gasUsed + value
Example: 
const tx: Transaction.Legacy = {
  gasPrice: 20000000000n,  // 20 gwei
  gasLimit: 21000n,
  value: 1000000000000000000n,  // 1 ETH
  // ...
}

// Maximum cost
const maxCost = tx.gasPrice * tx.gasLimit + tx.value
// 20 gwei * 21000 + 1 ETH = 0.00042 ETH + 1 ETH = 1.00042 ETH

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Limitations

Legacy transactions have several limitations compared to newer types:
  1. No access lists - Cannot pre-declare storage access
  2. Fixed gas price - No dynamic fee market support
  3. Chain ID in signature - Wastes space compared to explicit field
  4. No blob support - Cannot attach L2 data
  5. No authorization lists - Cannot delegate to contracts

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Migration to EIP-1559

Converting legacy to EIP-1559: 
function upgradeToEIP1559(
  legacy: Transaction.Legacy,
  baseFee: bigint,
  priorityFee = 1000000000n
): Transaction.EIP1559 {
  return {
    type: Transaction.Type.EIP1559,
    chainId: Legacy.getChainId.call(legacy) || 1n,
    nonce: legacy.nonce,
    maxPriorityFeePerGas: priorityFee,
    maxFeePerGas: baseFee + priorityFee,
    gasLimit: legacy.gasLimit,
    to: legacy.to,
    value: legacy.value,
    data: legacy.data,
    accessList: [],
    yParity: Number(legacy.v % 2n),
    r: legacy.r,
    s: legacy.s,
  }
}

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When to Use

Legacy transactions should be used:
  • When required by older infrastructure
  • On networks without EIP-1559 support
  • When interacting with wallets that only support legacy format
Prefer EIP-1559 for:
  • Modern Ethereum mainnet
  • Better gas price estimation
  • More predictable transaction costs
  • Access list optimization

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EIP Reference