MetaMask web extension now supports EIP-1559, offering a better understanding of adjusting gas fees and advanced settings.

The cryptocurrency wallet MetaMask recently announced support for features related to EIP-1559. Its instructional video provides detailed guidance on setting up "Priority Fee" and advanced fee settings, and also briefly explains the operation principles after the EIP-1559 update.

Priority Fee = Tip for Miners

EIP-1559 splits on-chain transaction fees into "Base Fee" + "Priority Fee." The "tip" is an additional fee users pay to miners to expedite transactions; the "Base Fee" is the minimum basic fee required for each transaction, as shown in the image below.

After EIP-1559, Ethereum will adjust the Base Fee for each transaction based on transaction demand and block size, while MetaMask users will need to adjust the Priority Fee.

In smooth on-chain transactions, regardless of the "Priority Fee" setting, transactions may be directly included in a block, as shown below.

However, during network congestion, transactions with low Priority Fees will not be the miner's first choice, as shown below.

Recommended Priority Fee by MetaMask

After the update, MetaMask also provides "Recommended Priority Fee" based on real-time on-chain conditions to balance transaction speed and transaction cost.

However, if a user has an urgent transaction need, manual adjustment of the "Priority Fee" is required. Click "Edit" on the transaction page to adjust the Priority Fee, as shown below.

Clicking "Edit" will bring up the window as shown below.

Manually Adjusting Priority Fee Advanced Settings

MetaMask currently only supports adjusting the Priority Fee in the web extension application. If users are not satisfied with the MetaMask recommended Priority Fee, they can further adjust it in the advanced settings. Clicking "Advanced options" will display three adjustable values, as shown below.

• Max priority fee: The maximum Priority Fee you are willing to pay to miners, in GWEI.
• Max fee: Base fee + Priority fee.

Gas Limit represents the maximum amount of Gas a user allows for a single transaction to avoid bugs in smart contracts that consume a lot of Gas. Setting a Gas Limit too high will result in excess Gas being refunded, while setting it too low may cause the transaction to fail.

Therefore, the maximum transaction fee for this transaction would be "Gas Limit * Max fee," as shown below.

Although "Max fee" may be misleading, it is essentially the same as the old "Gas Price," and the 21000 Gas in the Gas Limit in the image above is the minimum requirement per transaction. The calculation of the old fee was "Gas Price * Gas Limit."

Therefore, consider "Max fee" as the cost per unit for executing a transaction and "Gas Limit" as the maximum number of executions a transaction may require.