Clear DefinitionsMeta Transactions
1 min read
Pronunciation
[met-uh tranz-ak-shuhns]
Analogy
Think of a friend covering your taxi fare while you just sign a note promising to reimburse them later, so you don’t need cash in hand.
Definition
Transactions where a relayer pays the gas fees on behalf of a user, allowing the user to interact with smart contracts without holding native blockchain tokens. The user signs an intent off‑chain and the relayer wraps it into a funded on‑chain transaction.
Key Points Intro
Meta transactions abstract gas payment away from end users to improve UX and broaden access.
Key Points
Gas abstraction: Users need not hold native tokens for fees.
Relayer model: Third‑party submits and pays for transactions.
Security: User signs intent; relayer cannot alter content without invalidating signature.
Standards: EIP‑2771 and ERC‑2771 define trusted forwarder interfaces.
Example
A dApp lets new users mint an NFT by signing a message; its backend relayer then submits the mint transaction with gas paid in ETH.
Technical Deep Dive
User constructs a typed data payload (EIP‑712), signs it, and sends to a relayer. The relayer calls the contract’s `executeMetaTransaction(address user, bytes functionSignature, bytes signature)` on the trusted forwarder, which verifies the signature and invokes the target function with `msg.sender` set to the user.
Security Warning
Relayers could censor or withhold transactions; choose decentralized or reputable relayer networks.
Caveat
Relayer requires incentive model (fee or reputation); free relays may be abused.
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