Emerald Upgrade: Faster Blocks, AltFeeTx, and Advanced EVM Capabilities

Today, Morph rolls out the Emerald Upgrade, introducing faster blocks, native alternative fee payments, and the latest EVM enhancements. This release upgrades Morph’s core performance and unlocks more advanced on-chain functionality for users and developers. Below is an overview of the key features included in Emerald.

Five core improvements to the Morph chain:

1. Pay Fees with Any Token: AltFeeTx
2. Faster Block Times Support
3. Advanced EVM Precompiles (EIP-2537)
4. New EVM Opcode (EIP-7939)
5. ModExp Precompile Updates

Feature #1: Pay Fees with Any Token: AltFeeTx

With Emerald, Morph introduces AltFeeTx (Alternative Fee Transaction, type 0x7a), a new transaction type that allows users to pay transaction fees using tokens other than ETH.Why this matters:

Users no longer need to hold ETH just to pay gas.

ERC-20 tokens like USDT or USDC can now cover transaction fees directly.

Fees paid in alternative tokens are securely collected in the Fee Vault, ensuring safe and transparent management.

AltFeeTx is fully integrated into Morph’s transaction logic, eliminating the need for extra contracts or intermediaries. By calculating gas fees in real time via the on-chain GasOracle, AltFeeTx keeps transactions fast, cost-efficient, and fully compatible with existing wallets and RPC methods.

Feature #2: Faster Block Times Support

Emerald also enhances block production with relaxed block timestamp validation, allowing new blocks to share the same timestamp as their parent.

• Enables block intervals as fast as 300ms.
• Supports higher throughput and lower latency for Morph.

This improvement ensures a smoother and more responsive user experience, especially for applications requiring high-frequency transactions.

Feature #3: Advanced EVM Precompiles (EIP-2537)

The upgrade adds several EVM precompiles for cryptographic operations:

These precompiles enable developers to build sophisticated cryptographic applications, including zero-knowledge proofs and advanced identity solutions, directly on Morph.

Feature #4: New EVM Opcode (EIP-7939)

Emerald introduces CLZ (0x1e), the Count Leading Zeros opcode.

• This opcode efficiently counts the number of leading zero bits in a 256-bit value.
• Gas cost: 5 (GasFastStep)
• Helps optimize smart contract calculations and cryptographic operations.

Feature #5: ModExp Precompile Updates

The ModExp precompile receives important updates:

• EIP-7823: Limits base, exponent, and modulus lengths to 1024 bytes.
• EIP-7883: Updates gas cost calculation for the ModExp precompile.

These changes improve performance and predictability for contracts relying on large modular arithmetic, including cryptography-heavy applications.

Why the Emerald Upgrade Matters:

The Emerald Upgrade pushes Morph closer to a fully flexible, high-performance ecosystem:

• Users can pay gas with their preferred tokens natively.
• Faster block times support higher throughput and lower latency.
• Advanced precompiles and opcodes unlock powerful cryptographic capabilities for developers.

Emerald is a step toward a more accessible, efficient, and developer-friendly Morph, making it easier for users and dApps to thrive on our chain.Developers and users can explore the updated RPCs and SDKs to take advantage of AltFeeTx, fast blocks, and new precompiles today.Emerald isn’t just an upgrade. It’s a leap forward in flexibility, speed, and capability for Morph.

Check out the latest code versions:
• go Ethereum update: https://github.com/morph-l2/go-ethereum/releases/tag/morph-v2.1.0
• Morph node binary upgrade: Release v0.4.8 · morph-l2/morph