Dynamic Fee Markets at Sub-Second Timescales: Adapting EIP-1559 for High-Throughput Blockchains

Dynamic fee market mechanisms, exemplified by EIP-1559, have been extensively studied for Ethereum’s 12 s block environment but remain uncharacterized at sub-second timescales. We present an agent-based simulation study of an EIP-1559 adaptation for Injective, a Layer 1 blockchain combining native EVM compatibility with CometBFT consensus, operating at 600 ms block times. Across twelve simulation runs (four parameter configurations × three demand scenarios), our analysis yields three findings: (1) temporal smoothing mechanisms (MA-25, 25-block trailing average) produce mixed effects in sub-second environments with up to 47% basefee overshoot during spam attacks and slight smoothing elsewhere, making per-block mechanisms preferable for consistent performance; (2) transitioning from 150M (66.66% target) to 300M (50% target) configuration reduces peak fees by 31% during variable demand; during spam attacks, the 300M configuration peaks 32% higher but recovers faster with block capacity as the primary driver for spam throughput; and (3) per-block mechanisms establish initial spam barriers within 17–32 s versus Ethereum’s 4–6 min, economically justifying lower minimum fees. We provide the first systematic sub-second EIP-1559 analysis and a parameter optimization framework for high-throughput chains. With proper tuning, dynamic fee mechanisms are compatible with high-throughput architectures.