Ethereum: Can a single transaction have multiple outputs going to the same address?

Title: Can a single transaction have multiple outputs at the same address?

Introduction

Ethereum, one of the most popular blockchain platforms, allows users to create and execute complex transactions. However, some may wonder whether a single transaction can have multiple outputs at the same address. In this article, we will delve into the concept of multi-output Ethereum transactions and find out if this is possible.

Separable Pseudocode

Let’s take a closer look at an example of how two outputs can point to the same target address:

...
vout[0] => [address1]
...
vout[1] => [address2]

In this pseudocode, “vout[0]” and “vout[1]” are two separate outputs pointing to different addresses (“address1” and “address2”). The syntax “[ ]” represents a list or array, indicating that these two outputs are actually separate.

However, Ethereum 2.0 (also known as Serenity) introduces a feature called
Multi-address Transactions

. This allows users to create transactions with multiple addresses, including the ability to have the same exit point for different destinations.

Ethereum 2.0: Multi-address Transactions

Ethereum 2.0 programmers can use the “tx.origin” field to specify an address as the sender or originator of a transaction. This allows for more complex and dynamic transactions, enabling features such as multiple exits.

// Example of an operation using multiple addresses
const tx = {
input: [
{
index: 0,
name: 'from',
type: 'address',
value: 'address1',
remembered: false,
},
{
index: 1,
name: "to",
type: 'address',
value: 'address2',
remembered: true,
},
],
output: [
{
index: 0,
name: 'output1',
type: 'uint256',
value: 1234567890,
},
{
index: 1,
name: 'output2',
type: 'bool',
value: true,
},
],
letter: '',
};

In this example, the `tx.origin'' field is set toaddress1'', which means that only an address with the same value asaddress1'' can be used as the origin. If a different address ('address2'') is specified, the transaction will not be executed.

While it is theoretically possible for a single transaction to have multiple outputs at the same address, Ethereum 2.0 introduced multi-address transactions, which allows developers to create more complex and dynamic transactions. With this new feature, the`tx.origin” field can be used to specify an address as both the origin and destination of the transaction.

By understanding how multi-address transactions work in Ethereum 2.0, developers can better design and implement transactions that take advantage of this new feature, opening up the possibility of more complex interactions on the blockchain that are easier to use.