eth_signTransaction - Plasma RPC Method

Signs a transaction with the private key of the specified account on Plasma without submitting it to the network.

Why Plasma? Build on an EVM Layer 1 for stablecoin payments with PlasmaBFT consensus and Reth execution with 1 second blocks, XPL gas, full EVM JSON-RPC, and debug plus txpool on Dwellir.

Security Warning: Public Dwellir endpoints do not keep unlocked signers. On shared infrastructure, eth_signTransaction commonly returns a deprecation, unsupported-method, or account-management error instead of a signed payload. For production use, sign transactions client-side using libraries like ethers.js or web3.py, then broadcast with eth_sendRawTransaction.

When to Use This MethodCopy Anchor Link

eth_signTransaction is relevant for payment app developers, wallet teams, and teams shipping Solidity contracts for dollar transfers in limited scenarios:

• Understanding the Signing Flow - Learn how transaction signing works before implementing client-side signing
• Local Development - Sign transactions on a local dev node (Hardhat, Anvil, Ganache) where accounts are unlocked
• Offline Signing Workflows - Generate signed transaction payloads for later broadcast

Best PracticesCopy Anchor Link

• Sign transactions client-side using wallet libraries for production applications
• Never expose private keys to node endpoints; use eth_sendRawTransaction with pre-signed transactions
• Use eth_signTransaction only in test environments or for air-gapped signing validation

{
  "jsonrpc": "2.0",
  "method": "eth_signTransaction",
  "params": [
    {
      "from": "0x407d73d8a49eeb85d32cf465507dd71d507100c1",
      "to": "0xa94f5374fce5edbc8e2a8697c15331677e6ebf0b",
      "gas": "0x76c0",
      "gasPrice": "0x9184e72a000",
      "value": "0x9184e72a",
      "data": "0x",
      "nonce": "0x0"
    }
  ],
  "id": 1
}

Code ExamplesCopy Anchor Link

Common Use CasesCopy Anchor Link

1. Offline Transaction SigningCopy Anchor Link

Sign transactions on an air-gapped machine for later broadcast:

import { Wallet } from 'ethers';

async function createSignedTransaction(privateKey, to, value, { chainId, nonce, gasLimit }) {
  const wallet = new Wallet(privateKey);
  const tx = {
    to,
    value,
    gasLimit,
    nonce,
    chainId,
  };

  const signedTx = await wallet.signTransaction(tx);
  // Store signedTx and broadcast from an online machine
  return signedTx;
}

2. Batch Transaction PreparationCopy Anchor Link

Pre-sign multiple transactions for sequential submission on Plasma:

async function prepareBatch(wallet, transactions) {
  const signed = [];

  for (let i = 0; i < transactions.length; i++) {
    const tx = {
      ...transactions[i],
      nonce: baseNonce + i
    };
    signed.push(await wallet.signTransaction(tx));
  }

  return signed; // Submit via eth_sendRawTransaction in order
}

Error HandlingCopy Anchor Link

Common errors and solutions:

Related MethodsCopy Anchor Link

• eth_sendRawTransaction - Broadcast a signed transaction
• eth_sendTransaction - Sign and send in one step (requires unlocked account)
• eth_accounts - List accounts available for signing