implement EIP-7708 transfer and burn system logs (amsterdam) #2767

Summary

EIP-7708 emits system logs when value moves: an ETH transfer log is produced for the moved balance, and with EIP-8246 removing the SELFDESTRUCT burn there is no burn log left to emit.

Why it is not implemented here

• grep -rn 'EthTransferLog' --include='*.go' returns nothing: core/types/log.go has no such constructor.
• core/vm/instructions.go has no Amsterdam branch that emits a log on the self-destruct transfer path.

Upstream reference

go-ethereum master 7c5069001, checked 2026-10-21.

• core/types/log.go:68 (EthTransferLog).
• core/vm/instructions.go:962-965 (if evm.chainRules.IsAmsterdam && !balance.IsZero() && this != beneficiary emits the transfer log).
• params/protocol_params.go:278 (the EIP-7708 constant block).
• internal/ethapi/simulate.go:381-383 (geth internal/ethapi: avoid duplicate transfer logs in eth_simulateV1 post-Amsterdam ethereum/go-ethereum#35617): post-Amsterdam the protocol emits the transfer log, so the synthetic one is suppressed with traceTransfers = sim.traceTransfers && !sim.chainConfig.IsAmsterdam(...).

The synthetic transfer log has to land in the same PR

eth_simulateV1 synthesizes its own transfer logs, and once the protocol emits them as well every transfer is reported twice. Upstream fixed that separately in ethereum#35617 only because of timing (EIP-7708 landed in March, the simulation fix in October); here the two belong in one PR, because a tree that has EIP-7708 without the suppression reports every transfer twice and has no use of its own.

• Here: internal/ethapi/logtracer.go:130-140 builds the same ERC-20-shaped log (transferAddress + transferTopic, from/to topics and a 32-byte amount), gated only on traceTransfers (:131).
• The flag reaches the tracer from internal/ethapi/simulate.go:199 and internal/ethapi/api.go:1257.
• internal/ethapi has no IsAmsterdam reference at all today, so there is no existing fork gate to hang the suppression on; the simulator has to read the fork from its chain config, as upstream does.

Upstream PRs

EIP-7708 landed in two shapes: the first implementation carried transfer logs and burn logs, and EIP-8246 deleted the burn-log half three months later. Port the current shape (transfer log only) and do not copy the burn-log machinery.

Two consequences for this port:

1. Do not port the burn-log machinery. It existed in core, core/vm: implement EIP-7708 ethereum/go-ethereum#33645 and was reshaped by core/state: fix tracer hook for EIP-7708 burn logs ethereum/go-ethereum#34688, then deleted by core: implement EIP-8246 ethereum/go-ethereum#35219. Here EIP-8246 (feat(core/vm,core/state): EIP-8246 selfdestruct burn removal #35219, close #2766 #2834) removes the burn in the same fork, so a transfer-only log is both the upstream shape and the self-consistent one.
2. The self-destruct transfer log mirrors EIP-8246's condition: IsAmsterdam && !balance.IsZero() && this != beneficiary, in the block feat(core/vm,core/state): EIP-8246 selfdestruct burn removal #35219, close #2766 #2834 rewrote.

Scope

core/types (log shape), core/vm (transfer and self-destruct paths), core/state if the log has to be emitted from the state layer, and the RPC/filter surface because logs become part of block receipts. internal/ethapi is in scope as well: the synthetic transfer log has to be suppressed post-Amsterdam, or eth_simulateV1 reports every transfer twice.

Applicability

The log ABI (sender, recipient, amount, system flag) has to be confirmed for XDC, since these logs land in receipts and are consumed by indexers. EIP-8246 changes the same code path and should be decided with it.

Split out of #2730, the Amsterdam umbrella - this EIP is not mentioned there. Sibling per-EIP issues for the other unimplemented Amsterdam EIPs exist alongside this one.