diff --git a/bchain/coins/eth/ethrpc.go b/bchain/coins/eth/ethrpc.go
index bcc247e1..69ce3340 100644
--- a/bchain/coins/eth/ethrpc.go
+++ b/bchain/coins/eth/ethrpc.go
@@ -66,18 +66,22 @@ type Configuration struct {
 // EthereumRPC is an interface to JSON-RPC eth service.
 type EthereumRPC struct {
 	*bchain.BaseChain
-	Client                    bchain.EVMClient
-	RPC                       bchain.EVMRPCClient
-	MainNetChainID            Network
-	Timeout                   time.Duration
-	Parser                    *EthereumParser
-	PushHandler               func(bchain.NotificationType)
-	OpenRPC                   func(string, string) (bchain.EVMRPCClient, bchain.EVMClient, error)
-	Mempool                   *bchain.MempoolEthereumType
-	mempoolInitialized        bool
-	bestHeaderLock            sync.Mutex
-	bestHeader                bchain.EVMHeader
-	bestHeaderTime            time.Time
+	Client             bchain.EVMClient
+	RPC                bchain.EVMRPCClient
+	MainNetChainID     Network
+	Timeout            time.Duration
+	Parser             *EthereumParser
+	PushHandler        func(bchain.NotificationType)
+	OpenRPC            func(string, string) (bchain.EVMRPCClient, bchain.EVMClient, error)
+	Mempool            *bchain.MempoolEthereumType
+	mempoolInitialized bool
+	bestHeaderLock     sync.Mutex
+	bestHeader         bchain.EVMHeader
+	bestHeaderTime     time.Time
+	// newBlockNotifyCh coalesces bursts of newHeads events into a single wake-up.
+	// This keeps the subscription reader unblocked while we refresh the canonical tip.
+	newBlockNotifyCh          chan struct{}
+	newBlockNotifyOnce        sync.Once
 	NewBlock                  bchain.EVMNewBlockSubscriber
 	newBlockSubscription      bchain.EVMClientSubscription
 	NewTx                     bchain.EVMNewTxSubscriber
@@ -113,6 +117,8 @@ func NewEthereumRPC(config json.RawMessage, pushHandler func(bchain.Notification
 		BaseChain:   &bchain.BaseChain{},
 		ChainConfig: &c,
 	}
+	// 1-slot buffer ensures we only queue one "refresh tip" signal at a time.
+	s.newBlockNotifyCh = make(chan struct{}, 1)
 
 	ProcessInternalTransactions = c.ProcessInternalTransactions
 
@@ -342,16 +348,17 @@ func (b *EthereumRPC) InitializeMempool(addrDescForOutpoint bchain.AddrDescForOu
 }
 
 func (b *EthereumRPC) subscribeEvents() error {
+	b.newBlockNotifyOnce.Do(func() {
+		go b.newBlockNotifier()
+	})
 	// new block notifications handling
 	go func() {
 		for {
-			h, ok := b.NewBlock.Read()
+			_, ok := b.NewBlock.Read()
 			if !ok {
 				break
 			}
-			b.UpdateBestHeader(h)
-			// notify blockbook
-			b.PushHandler(bchain.NotificationNewBlock)
+			b.signalNewBlock()
 		}
 	}()
 
@@ -608,11 +615,69 @@ func (b *EthereumRPC) getBestHeader() (bchain.EVMHeader, error) {
 
 // UpdateBestHeader keeps track of the latest block header confirmed on chain
 func (b *EthereumRPC) UpdateBestHeader(h bchain.EVMHeader) {
+	if h == nil || h.Number() == nil {
+		return
+	}
 	glog.V(2).Info("rpc: new block header ", h.Number().Uint64())
+	b.setBestHeader(h)
+}
+
+func (b *EthereumRPC) signalNewBlock() {
+	// Non-blocking send: one pending signal is enough to refresh the tip.
+	select {
+	case b.newBlockNotifyCh <- struct{}{}:
+	default:
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *EthereumRPC) newBlockNotifier() {
+	for range b.newBlockNotifyCh {
+		updated, err := b.refreshBestHeaderFromChain()
+		if err != nil {
+			glog.Error("refreshBestHeaderFromChain ", err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if updated {
+			b.PushHandler(bchain.NotificationNewBlock)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (b *EthereumRPC) refreshBestHeaderFromChain() (bool, error) {
+	if b.Client == nil {
+		return false, errors.New("rpc client not initialized")
+	}
+	ctx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), b.Timeout)
+	defer cancel()
+	h, err := b.Client.HeaderByNumber(ctx, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false, err
+	}
+	if h == nil || h.Number() == nil {
+		return false, errors.New("best header is nil")
+	}
+	return b.setBestHeader(h), nil
+}
+
+func (b *EthereumRPC) setBestHeader(h bchain.EVMHeader) bool {
+	if h == nil || h.Number() == nil {
+		return false
+	}
 	b.bestHeaderLock.Lock()
+	defer b.bestHeaderLock.Unlock()
+	changed := false
+	if b.bestHeader == nil || b.bestHeader.Number() == nil {
+		changed = true
+	} else {
+		prevNum := b.bestHeader.Number().Uint64()
+		newNum := h.Number().Uint64()
+		if prevNum != newNum || b.bestHeader.Hash() != h.Hash() {
+			changed = true
+		}
+	}
 	b.bestHeader = h
 	b.bestHeaderTime = time.Now()
-	b.bestHeaderLock.Unlock()
+	return changed
 }
 
 // GetBestBlockHash returns hash of the tip of the best-block-chain