diff --git a/beacon_chain/beacon_chain_db_light_client.nim b/beacon_chain/beacon_chain_db_light_client.nim
index 10e5b1d51c..aef2bb7428 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/beacon_chain_db_light_client.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/beacon_chain_db_light_client.nim
@@ -20,8 +20,7 @@ import
   eth/db/kvstore_sqlite3,
   # Beacon chain internals
   spec/datatypes/altair,
-  spec/[eth2_ssz_serialization, helpers],
-  ./filepath
+  spec/[eth2_ssz_serialization, helpers]
 
 logScope: topics = "lcdata"
 
diff --git a/beacon_chain/eth1/eth1_monitor.nim b/beacon_chain/eth1/eth1_monitor.nim
index af5c59a7a6..fca79dd4be 100644
--- a/beacon_chain/eth1/eth1_monitor.nim
+++ b/beacon_chain/eth1/eth1_monitor.nim
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ type
 
     blocksByHash: Table[BlockHash, Eth1Block]
 
+    headMerkleizer: DepositsMerkleizer
+      ## Merkleizer state after applying all `blocks`
+
     hasConsensusViolation: bool
       ## The local chain contradicts the observed consensus on the network
 
@@ -257,6 +260,9 @@ template depositChainBlocks*(m: Eth1Monitor): Deque[Eth1Block] =
 template finalizedDepositsMerkleizer(m: Eth1Monitor): auto =
   m.depositsChain.finalizedDepositsMerkleizer
 
+template headMerkleizer(m: Eth1Monitor): auto =
+  m.depositsChain.headMerkleizer
+
 proc fixupWeb3Urls*(web3Url: var string) =
   var normalizedUrl = toLowerAscii(web3Url)
   if not (normalizedUrl.startsWith("https://") or
@@ -645,7 +651,7 @@ when hasDepositRootChecks:
   const
     contractCallTimeout = 60.seconds
 
-  func fetchDepositContractData(p: Web3DataProviderRef, blk: Eth1Block):
+  proc fetchDepositContractData(p: Web3DataProviderRef, blk: Eth1Block):
                                 Future[DepositContractDataStatus] {.async.} =
     let
       depositRoot = p.ns.get_deposit_root.call(blockNumber = blk.number)
@@ -668,8 +674,8 @@ when hasDepositRootChecks:
       result = DepositRootUnavailable
 
     try:
-      let fetchedCount = bytes_to_uint64(array[8, byte](
-        awaitOrRaiseOnTimeout(rawCount, contractCallTimeout)))
+      let fetchedCount = bytes_to_uint64(
+        awaitOrRaiseOnTimeout(rawCount, contractCallTimeout).toArray)
       if blk.voteData.deposit_count == 0:
         blk.voteData.deposit_count = fetchedCount
       elif blk.voteData.deposit_count != fetchedCount:
@@ -1031,6 +1037,7 @@ proc safeCancel(fut: var Future[void]) =
 func clear(chain: var Eth1Chain) =
   chain.blocks.clear()
   chain.blocksByHash.clear()
+  chain.headMerkleizer.reset()
   chain.hasConsensusViolation = false
 
 proc detectPrimaryProviderComingOnline(m: Eth1Monitor) {.async.} =
@@ -1114,10 +1121,9 @@ func earliestBlockOfInterest(m: Eth1Monitor): Eth1BlockNumber =
   m.latestEth1BlockNumber - (2 * m.cfg.ETH1_FOLLOW_DISTANCE) - votedBlocksSafetyMargin
 
 proc syncBlockRange(m: Eth1Monitor,
-                    merkleizer: ref DepositsMerkleizer,
                     fromBlock, toBlock,
                     fullSyncFromBlock: Eth1BlockNumber) {.gcsafe, async.} =
-  doAssert m.depositsChain.blocks.len > 0 and m.dataProvider != nil
+  doAssert m.depositsChain.blocks.len > 0
 
   var currentBlock = fromBlock
   while currentBlock <= toBlock:
@@ -1169,12 +1175,6 @@ proc syncBlockRange(m: Eth1Monitor,
     for i in 0 ..< blocksWithDeposits.len:
       let blk = blocksWithDeposits[i]
 
-      for deposit in blk.deposits:
-        merkleizer[].addChunk hash_tree_root(deposit).data
-
-      blk.voteData.deposit_count = merkleizer[].getChunkCount
-      blk.voteData.deposit_root = merkleizer[].getDepositsRoot
-
       if blk.number > fullSyncFromBlock:
         let lastBlock = m.depositsChain.blocks.peekLast
         for n in max(lastBlock.number + 1, fullSyncFromBlock) ..< blk.number:
@@ -1186,6 +1186,11 @@ proc syncBlockRange(m: Eth1Monitor,
             lastBlock.makeSuccessorWithoutDeposits(blockWithoutDeposits))
           eth1_synced_head.set blockWithoutDeposits.number.toGaugeValue
 
+      for deposit in blk.deposits:
+        m.headMerkleizer.addChunk hash_tree_root(deposit).data
+      blk.voteData.deposit_count = m.headMerkleizer.getChunkCount
+      blk.voteData.deposit_root = m.headMerkleizer.getDepositsRoot
+
       m.depositsChain.addBlock blk
       eth1_synced_head.set blk.number.toGaugeValue
 
@@ -1224,7 +1229,7 @@ proc syncBlockRange(m: Eth1Monitor,
 
         let depositContractState = DepositContractSnapshot(
           eth1Block: blocksWithDeposits[^1].voteData.block_hash,
-          depositContractState: merkleizer[].toDepositContractState)
+          depositContractState: m.headMerkleizer.toDepositContractState)
 
         m.depositsChain.db.putEth2FinalizedTo depositContractState
 
@@ -1388,11 +1393,11 @@ proc startEth1Syncing(m: Eth1Monitor, delayBeforeStart: Duration) {.async.} =
                                         subscriptionErrorHandler)
 
   let shouldProcessDeposits = not m.depositContractAddress.isZeroMemory
-  var scratchMerkleizer: ref DepositsMerkleizer
   var eth1SyncedTo: Eth1BlockNumber
   if shouldProcessDeposits and m.depositsChain.blocks.len == 0:
     let startBlock = awaitWithRetries(
-      m.dataProvider.getBlockByHash(m.depositsChain.finalizedBlockHash.asBlockHash))
+      m.dataProvider.getBlockByHash(
+        m.depositsChain.finalizedBlockHash.asBlockHash))
 
     m.depositsChain.addBlock Eth1Block(
       number: Eth1BlockNumber startBlock.number,
@@ -1408,7 +1413,7 @@ proc startEth1Syncing(m: Eth1Monitor, delayBeforeStart: Duration) {.async.} =
     eth1_finalized_deposits.set(
       m.depositsChain.finalizedDepositsMerkleizer.getChunkCount.toGaugeValue)
 
-    scratchMerkleizer = newClone(copy m.finalizedDepositsMerkleizer)
+    m.depositsChain.headMerkleizer = copy m.finalizedDepositsMerkleizer
 
     debug "Starting Eth1 syncing", `from` = shortLog(m.depositsChain.blocks[0])
 
@@ -1476,7 +1481,7 @@ proc startEth1Syncing(m: Eth1Monitor, delayBeforeStart: Duration) {.async.} =
         m.terminalBlockHash = some terminalBlockCandidate.hash
         m.terminalBlockNumber = some terminalBlockCandidate.number
 
-    if shouldProcessDeposits and scratchMerkleizer != nil:
+    if shouldProcessDeposits:
       if m.latestEth1BlockNumber <= m.cfg.ETH1_FOLLOW_DISTANCE:
         continue
 
@@ -1485,8 +1490,7 @@ proc startEth1Syncing(m: Eth1Monitor, delayBeforeStart: Duration) {.async.} =
         continue
 
       let earliestBlockOfInterest = m.earliestBlockOfInterest()
-      await m.syncBlockRange(scratchMerkleizer,
-                             eth1SyncedTo + 1,
+      await m.syncBlockRange(eth1SyncedTo + 1,
                              targetBlock,
                              earliestBlockOfInterest)
       eth1SyncedTo = targetBlock