EIP-7981: Increase Access List Cost

Price access lists for data to reduce maximum block size

Abstract

This EIP charges access lists for their data footprint, preventing the circumvention of the EIP-7623 floor pricing. This effectively reduces the worst-case block size by ~21% with minimal impact on users.

Motivation

Access lists are only priced for storage but not for their data.

Furthermore, access lists can circumvent the EIP-7623 floor pricing by contributing to EVM gas while still leaving a non-negligible data footprint. This enables achieving the maximal possible block size by combining access lists with calldata at a certain ratio.

Specification

Let access_list_bytes be the total byte count of addresses (20 bytes each) and storage keys (32 bytes each) in the access list.

Let floor_tokens_in_access_list = access_list_bytes * 4.

Equivalently, the access list data is charged 64 gas per byte, which amounts to 1280 gas per address (20 bytes × 64) and 2048 gas per storage key (32 bytes × 64). The token abstraction is retained only for consistency with EIP-7623 and EIP-7976.

The access list cost formula changes from EIP-2930 to include data cost:

access_list_cost = (
    ACCESS_LIST_ADDRESS_COST * access_list_addresses
    + ACCESS_LIST_STORAGE_KEY_COST * access_list_storage_keys
    + TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN * floor_tokens_in_access_list
)

The EIP-7976 floor calculation is modified to include access list tokens:

floor_tokens_in_calldata = (zero_bytes_in_calldata + nonzero_bytes_in_calldata) * 4
total_floor_data_tokens = floor_tokens_in_calldata + floor_tokens_in_access_list

data_floor_gas_cost = TX_BASE_COST + TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN * total_floor_data_tokens

The gas used calculation becomes:

tx.gasUsed = (
    21000
    +
    max(
        STANDARD_TOKEN_COST * tokens_in_calldata
        + execution_gas_used
        + isContractCreation * (32000 + INITCODE_WORD_COST * words(calldata))
        + access_list_cost,
        TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN * total_floor_data_tokens
    )
)

Any transaction with a gas limit below 21000 + TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN * total_floor_data_tokens or below its intrinsic gas cost is considered invalid.

Rationale

Access list data is always charged at floor rate (added to access_list_cost), and access list tokens are included in the floor calculation. This ensures:

• Access list data always pays floor rate regardless of execution level
• Access lists cannot be used to bypass the calldata floor pricing
• Consistent pricing across all transaction data sources

Backwards Compatibility

This is a backwards incompatible gas repricing that requires a scheduled network upgrade.

Requires updates to gas estimation in wallets and nodes. Normal usage patterns remain largely unaffected.

Reference Implementation

def calculate_access_list_floor_tokens(access_list: Tuple[Access, ...]) -> Uint:
    """Count floor data tokens in access list addresses and storage keys."""
    total_bytes = Uint(0)

    for access in access_list:
        total_bytes += ulen(access.account)
        for slot in access.slots:
            total_bytes += ulen(slot)

    return total_bytes * Uint(4)


def calculate_intrinsic_cost(tx: Transaction) -> Tuple[Uint, Uint]:
    """
    Calculate intrinsic gas cost and floor gas cost.
    Returns (intrinsic_gas, floor_gas).
    """
    # Calldata tokens (EIP-7976)
    calldata_zero_bytes = Uint(0)
    for byte in tx.data:
        if byte == 0:
            calldata_zero_bytes += Uint(1)
    calldata_nonzero_bytes = ulen(tx.data) - calldata_zero_bytes
    tokens_in_calldata = (
        calldata_zero_bytes + calldata_nonzero_bytes * Uint(4)
    )
    floor_tokens_in_calldata = (
        (calldata_zero_bytes + calldata_nonzero_bytes) * Uint(4)
    )

    # Access list floor tokens and cost
    floor_tokens_in_access_list = Uint(0)
    access_list_cost = Uint(0)
    if has_access_list(tx):
        floor_tokens_in_access_list = calculate_access_list_floor_tokens(tx.access_list)
        for access in tx.access_list:
            access_list_cost += TX_ACCESS_LIST_ADDRESS_COST
            access_list_cost += ulen(access.slots) * TX_ACCESS_LIST_STORAGE_KEY_COST
        # EIP-7981: Always charge data cost
        access_list_cost += floor_tokens_in_access_list * TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN

    # EIP-7981: Floor includes all floor data tokens
    total_floor_data_tokens = floor_tokens_in_calldata + floor_tokens_in_access_list
    floor_gas = TX_BASE_COST + total_floor_data_tokens * TOTAL_COST_FLOOR_PER_TOKEN

    # Intrinsic gas
    calldata_cost = tokens_in_calldata * STANDARD_TOKEN_COST
    create_cost = TX_CREATE_COST + init_code_cost(tx.data) if is_create(tx) else Uint(0)

    intrinsic_gas = TX_BASE_COST + calldata_cost + create_cost + access_list_cost

    return intrinsic_gas, floor_gas

Security Considerations

This EIP closes a loophole that allows circumventing EIP-7623 floor pricing. Without this fix, attackers can achieve larger blocks than intended by combining access lists with calldata. All transaction data sources now contribute to the floor calculation consistently.

Copyright

Copyright and related rights waived via CC0.

Citation

Please cite this document as:

Toni Wahrstätter (@nerolation), "EIP-7981: Increase Access List Cost [DRAFT]," Ethereum Improvement Proposals, no. 7981, December 2024. Available: https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7981.