A transaction substate is created during the execution of the transaction that is processed immediately after the execution completes.
This transaction substate is a tuple that is composed of four items.
From Initiation to Immutable Confirmation (Part 2)
These items are described here: Suicide set or self-destruct set: This element contains the list of accounts (if any) that are disposed of after the transaction executes.
Log series: This is an indexed series of checkpoints that allow the monitoring and notification of contract calls to the entities external to the Ethereum environment, such as application frontends.
It works like a trigger mechanism that is executed every time a specific function is invoked, or a specific event occurs.
Logs are created in response to events occurring in the smart contract.
Events will be covered with practical examples in , Introducing Web3.
Refund balance: This is the total price of gas in the transaction that initiated the execution.
Why This Matters for Blockchain Technology
Refunds are not immediately executed; instead, they are used to offset the total execution cost partially.
Touched accounts: This is the set of touched accounts from which empty ones are deleted at the end of the transaction
Key Points to Remember
- The transaction substate A transaction substate is created during the execution of the transaction that is processed immediately after the execution completes.
- This transaction substate is a tuple that is composed of four items.
- These items are described here: Suicide set or self-destruct set: This element contains the list of accounts (if any) that are disposed of after the transaction executes.
- Log series: This is an indexed series of checkpoints that allow the monitoring and notification of contract calls to the entities external to the Ethereum environment, such as application frontends.
Conclusion
The transaction substate represents one of the many innovative layers that make blockchain technology so powerful and transformative. As distributed systems continue to evolve, a solid understanding of these core concepts becomes increasingly valuable — not just for developers, but for anyone building, investing in, or working alongside blockchain-powered systems.
Whether you are just starting your blockchain journey or deepening existing expertise, mastering these fundamentals gives you the tools to think clearly about decentralized systems and make smarter decisions in this rapidly evolving space.