diff --git a/core/state/snapshot/difflayer.go b/core/state/snapshot/difflayer.go
index 05d55a6fa..0d97fbdc8 100644
--- a/core/state/snapshot/difflayer.go
+++ b/core/state/snapshot/difflayer.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package snapshot
 
 import (
 	"encoding/binary"
+	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
 	"math"
 	"math/rand"
@@ -475,3 +476,291 @@ func (dl *diffLayer) StorageList(accountHash common.Hash) []common.Hash {
 	dl.storageList[accountHash] = accountStorageList
 	return accountStorageList
 }
+
+type Iterator interface {
+	// Next steps the iterator forward one element, and returns false if
+	// the iterator is exhausted
+	Next() bool
+	// Key returns the current key
+	Key() common.Hash
+	// Seek steps the iterator forward as many elements as needed, so that after
+	// calling Next(), the iterator will be at a key higher than the given hash
+	Seek(common.Hash)
+}
+
+func (dl *diffLayer) newIterator() Iterator {
+	dl.AccountList()
+	return &dlIterator{dl, -1}
+}
+
+type dlIterator struct {
+	layer *diffLayer
+	index int
+}
+
+func (it *dlIterator) Next() bool {
+	if it.index < len(it.layer.accountList) {
+		it.index++
+	}
+	return it.index < len(it.layer.accountList)
+}
+
+func (it *dlIterator) Key() common.Hash {
+	if it.index < len(it.layer.accountList) {
+		return it.layer.accountList[it.index]
+	}
+	return common.Hash{}
+}
+
+func (it *dlIterator) Seek(key common.Hash) {
+	// Search uses binary search to find and return the smallest index i
+	// in [0, n) at which f(i) is true
+	size := len(it.layer.accountList)
+	index := sort.Search(size,
+		func(i int) bool {
+			v := it.layer.accountList[i]
+			return bytes.Compare(key[:], v[:]) < 0
+		})
+	it.index = index - 1
+}
+
+type binaryIterator struct {
+	a     Iterator
+	b     Iterator
+	aDone bool
+	bDone bool
+	k     common.Hash
+}
+
+func (dl *diffLayer) newBinaryIterator() Iterator {
+	parent, ok := dl.parent.(*diffLayer)
+	if !ok {
+		// parent is the disk layer
+		return dl.newIterator()
+	}
+	l := &binaryIterator{
+		a: dl.newIterator(),
+		b: parent.newBinaryIterator()}
+
+	l.aDone = !l.a.Next()
+	l.bDone = !l.b.Next()
+	return l
+}
+
+func (it *binaryIterator) Next() bool {
+
+	if it.aDone && it.bDone {
+		return false
+	}
+	nextB := it.b.Key()
+first:
+	nextA := it.a.Key()
+	if it.aDone {
+		it.bDone = !it.b.Next()
+		it.k = nextB
+		return true
+	}
+	if it.bDone {
+		it.aDone = !it.a.Next()
+		it.k = nextA
+		return true
+	}
+	if diff := bytes.Compare(nextA[:], nextB[:]); diff < 0 {
+		it.aDone = !it.a.Next()
+		it.k = nextA
+		return true
+	} else if diff == 0 {
+		// Now we need to advance one of them
+		it.aDone = !it.a.Next()
+		goto first
+	}
+	it.bDone = !it.b.Next()
+	it.k = nextB
+	return true
+}
+
+func (it *binaryIterator) Key() common.Hash {
+	return it.k
+}
+func (it *binaryIterator) Seek(key common.Hash) {
+	panic("todo: implement")
+}
+
+func (dl *diffLayer) iterators() []Iterator {
+	if parent, ok := dl.parent.(*diffLayer); ok {
+		iterators := parent.iterators()
+		return append(iterators, dl.newIterator())
+	}
+	return []Iterator{dl.newIterator()}
+}
+
+// fastIterator is a more optimized multi-layer iterator which maintains a
+// direct mapping of all iterators leading down to the bottom layer
+type fastIterator struct {
+	iterators []Iterator
+	initiated bool
+}
+
+// Len returns the number of active iterators
+func (fi *fastIterator) Len() int {
+	return len(fi.iterators)
+}
+
+// Less implements sort.Interface
+func (fi *fastIterator) Less(i, j int) bool {
+	a := fi.iterators[i].Key()
+	b := fi.iterators[j].Key()
+	return bytes.Compare(a[:], b[:]) < 0
+}
+
+// Swap implements sort.Interface
+func (fi *fastIterator) Swap(i, j int) {
+	fi.iterators[i], fi.iterators[j] = fi.iterators[j], fi.iterators[i]
+}
+
+// Next implements the Iterator interface. It returns false if no more elemnts
+// can be retrieved (false == exhausted)
+func (fi *fastIterator) Next() bool {
+	if len(fi.iterators) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	if !fi.initiated {
+		// Don't forward first time -- we had to 'Next' once in order to
+		// do the sorting already
+		fi.initiated = true
+		return true
+	}
+	return fi.innerNext(0)
+}
+
+// innerNext handles the next operation internally,
+// and should be invoked when we know that two elements in the list may have
+// the same value.
+// For example, if the list becomes [2,3,5,5,8,9,10], then we should invoke
+// innerNext(3), which will call Next on elem 3 (the second '5'). It will continue
+// along the list and apply the same operation if needed
+func (fi *fastIterator) innerNext(pos int) bool {
+	if !fi.iterators[pos].Next() {
+		//Exhausted, remove this iterator
+		fi.remove(pos)
+		if len(fi.iterators) == 0 {
+			return false
+		}
+		return true
+	}
+	if pos == len(fi.iterators)-1 {
+		// Only one iterator left
+		return true
+	}
+	// We next:ed the elem at 'pos'. Now we may have to re-sort that elem
+	val, neighbour := fi.iterators[pos].Key(), fi.iterators[pos+1].Key()
+	diff := bytes.Compare(val[:], neighbour[:])
+	if diff < 0 {
+		// It is still in correct place
+		return true
+	}
+	if diff == 0 {
+		// It has same value as the neighbour. So still in correct place, but
+		// we need to iterate on the neighbour
+		fi.innerNext(pos + 1)
+		return true
+	}
+	// At this point, the elem is in the wrong location, but the
+	// remaining list is sorted. Find out where to move the elem
+	iterationNeeded := false
+	index := sort.Search(len(fi.iterators), func(n int) bool {
+		if n <= pos {
+			// No need to search 'behind' us
+			return false
+		}
+		if n == len(fi.iterators)-1 {
+			// Can always place an elem last
+			return true
+		}
+		neighbour := fi.iterators[n+1].Key()
+		diff := bytes.Compare(val[:], neighbour[:])
+		if diff == 0 {
+			// The elem we're placing it next to has the same value,
+			// so it's going to need further iteration
+			iterationNeeded = true
+		}
+		return diff < 0
+	})
+	fi.move(pos, index)
+	if iterationNeeded {
+		fi.innerNext(index)
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+// move moves an iterator to another position in the list
+func (fi *fastIterator) move(index, newpos int) {
+	if newpos > len(fi.iterators)-1 {
+		newpos = len(fi.iterators) - 1
+	}
+	var (
+		elem   = fi.iterators[index]
+		middle = fi.iterators[index+1 : newpos+1]
+		suffix []Iterator
+	)
+	if newpos < len(fi.iterators)-1 {
+		suffix = fi.iterators[newpos+1:]
+	}
+	fi.iterators = append(fi.iterators[:index], middle...)
+	fi.iterators = append(fi.iterators, elem)
+	fi.iterators = append(fi.iterators, suffix...)
+}
+
+// remove drops an iterator from the list
+func (fi *fastIterator) remove(index int) {
+	fi.iterators = append(fi.iterators[:index], fi.iterators[index+1:]...)
+}
+
+// Key returns the current key
+func (fi *fastIterator) Key() common.Hash {
+	return fi.iterators[0].Key()
+}
+
+func (fi *fastIterator) Seek(key common.Hash) {
+	// We need to apply this across all iterators
+	var seen = make(map[common.Hash]struct{})
+
+	length := len(fi.iterators)
+	for i, it := range fi.iterators {
+		it.Seek(key)
+		for {
+			if !it.Next() {
+				// To be removed
+				// swap it to the last position for now
+				fi.iterators[i], fi.iterators[length-1] = fi.iterators[length-1], fi.iterators[i]
+				length--
+				break
+			}
+			v := it.Key()
+			if _, exist := seen[v]; !exist {
+				seen[v] = struct{}{}
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	// Now remove those that were placed in the end
+	fi.iterators = fi.iterators[:length]
+	// The list is now totally unsorted, need to re-sort the entire list
+	sort.Sort(fi)
+	fi.initiated = false
+}
+
+// The fast iterator does not query parents as much.
+func (dl *diffLayer) newFastIterator() Iterator {
+	f := &fastIterator{dl.iterators(), false}
+	f.Seek(common.Hash{})
+	return f
+}
+
+// Debug is a convencience helper during testing
+func (fi *fastIterator) Debug() {
+	for _, it := range fi.iterators {
+		fmt.Printf(" %v ", it.Key()[31])
+	}
+	fmt.Println()
+}
diff --git a/core/state/snapshot/difflayer_test.go b/core/state/snapshot/difflayer_test.go
index 7d7b21eb0..5f914f626 100644
--- a/core/state/snapshot/difflayer_test.go
+++ b/core/state/snapshot/difflayer_test.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ package snapshot
 
 import (
 	"bytes"
+	"encoding/binary"
 	"math/big"
 	"math/rand"
 	"testing"
@@ -347,3 +348,365 @@ func BenchmarkJournal(b *testing.B) {
 		layer.Journal(new(bytes.Buffer))
 	}
 }
+
+// TestIteratorBasics tests some simple single-layer iteration
+func TestIteratorBasics(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		accounts = make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		storage  = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+	)
+	// Fill up a parent
+	for i := 0; i < 100; i++ {
+		h := randomHash()
+		data := randomAccount()
+		accounts[h] = data
+		if rand.Intn(20) < 10 {
+			accStorage := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+			value := make([]byte, 32)
+			rand.Read(value)
+			accStorage[randomHash()] = value
+			storage[h] = accStorage
+		}
+	}
+	// Add some (identical) layers on top
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{}, accounts, storage)
+	it := parent.newIterator()
+	verifyIterator(t, 100, it)
+}
+
+type testIterator struct {
+	values []byte
+}
+
+func newTestIterator(values ...byte) *testIterator {
+	return &testIterator{values}
+}
+func (ti *testIterator) Next() bool {
+	ti.values = ti.values[1:]
+	if len(ti.values) == 0 {
+		return false
+	}
+	return true
+}
+
+func (ti *testIterator) Key() common.Hash {
+	return common.BytesToHash([]byte{ti.values[0]})
+}
+
+func (ti *testIterator) Seek(common.Hash) {
+	panic("implement me")
+}
+
+func TestFastIteratorBasics(t *testing.T) {
+	type testCase struct {
+		lists   [][]byte
+		expKeys []byte
+	}
+	for i, tc := range []testCase{
+		{lists: [][]byte{{0, 1, 8}, {1, 2, 8}, {2, 9}, {4},
+			{7, 14, 15}, {9, 13, 15, 16}},
+			expKeys: []byte{0, 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16}},
+		{lists: [][]byte{{0, 8}, {1, 2, 8}, {7, 14, 15}, {8, 9},
+			{9, 10}, {10, 13, 15, 16}},
+			expKeys: []byte{0, 1, 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 16}},
+	} {
+		var iterators []Iterator
+		for _, data := range tc.lists {
+			iterators = append(iterators, newTestIterator(data...))
+
+		}
+		fi := &fastIterator{
+			iterators: iterators,
+			initiated: false,
+		}
+		count := 0
+		for fi.Next() {
+			if got, exp := fi.Key()[31], tc.expKeys[count]; exp != got {
+				t.Errorf("tc %d, [%d]: got %d exp %d", i, count, got, exp)
+			}
+			count++
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func verifyIterator(t *testing.T, expCount int, it Iterator) {
+	var (
+		i    = 0
+		last = common.Hash{}
+	)
+	for it.Next() {
+		v := it.Key()
+		if bytes.Compare(last[:], v[:]) >= 0 {
+			t.Errorf("Wrong order:\n%x \n>=\n%x", last, v)
+		}
+		i++
+	}
+	if i != expCount {
+		t.Errorf("iterator len wrong, expected %d, got %d", expCount, i)
+	}
+}
+
+// TestIteratorTraversal tests some simple multi-layer iteration
+func TestIteratorTraversal(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		storage = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+	)
+
+	mkAccounts := func(args ...string) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for _, h := range args {
+			accounts[common.HexToHash(h)] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+	// entries in multiple layers should only become output once
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xaa", "0xee", "0xff", "0xf0"), storage)
+
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xbb", "0xdd", "0xf0"), storage)
+
+	child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xcc", "0xf0", "0xff"), storage)
+
+	// single layer iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 3, child.newIterator())
+	// multi-layered binary iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 7, child.newBinaryIterator())
+	// multi-layered fast iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 7, child.newFastIterator())
+}
+
+func TestIteratorLargeTraversal(t *testing.T) {
+	// This testcase is a bit notorious -- all layers contain the exact
+	// same 200 accounts.
+	var storage = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+	mkAccounts := func(num int) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
+			h := common.Hash{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(h[:], uint64(i+1))
+			accounts[h] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(200), storage)
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(200), storage)
+	for i := 2; i < 100; i++ {
+		child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+			mkAccounts(200), storage)
+	}
+	// single layer iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 200, child.newIterator())
+	// multi-layered binary iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 200, child.newBinaryIterator())
+	// multi-layered fast iterator
+	verifyIterator(t, 200, child.newFastIterator())
+}
+
+// BenchmarkIteratorTraversal is a bit a bit notorious -- all layers contain the exact
+// same 200 accounts. That means that we need to process 2000 items, but only
+// spit out 200 values eventually.
+//
+//BenchmarkIteratorTraversal/binary_iterator-6         	    2008	    573290 ns/op	    9520 B/op	     199 allocs/op
+//BenchmarkIteratorTraversal/fast_iterator-6           	    1946	    575596 ns/op	   20146 B/op	     134 allocs/op
+func BenchmarkIteratorTraversal(b *testing.B) {
+
+	var storage = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+
+	mkAccounts := func(num int) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
+			h := common.Hash{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(h[:], uint64(i+1))
+			accounts[h] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(200), storage)
+
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(200), storage)
+
+	for i := 2; i < 100; i++ {
+		child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+			mkAccounts(200), storage)
+
+	}
+	// We call this once before the benchmark, so the creation of
+	// sorted accountlists are not included in the results.
+	child.newBinaryIterator()
+	b.Run("binary iterator", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			got := 0
+			it := child.newBinaryIterator()
+			for it.Next() {
+				got++
+			}
+			if exp := 200; got != exp {
+				b.Errorf("iterator len wrong, expected %d, got %d", exp, got)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("fast iterator", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			got := 0
+			it := child.newFastIterator()
+			for it.Next() {
+				got++
+			}
+			if exp := 200; got != exp {
+				b.Errorf("iterator len wrong, expected %d, got %d", exp, got)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// BenchmarkIteratorLargeBaselayer is a pretty realistic benchmark, where
+// the baselayer is a lot larger than the upper layer.
+//
+// This is heavy on the binary iterator, which in most cases will have to
+// call recursively 100 times for the majority of the values
+//
+// BenchmarkIteratorLargeBaselayer/binary_iterator-6    	     585	   2067377 ns/op	    9520 B/op	     199 allocs/op
+// BenchmarkIteratorLargeBaselayer/fast_iterator-6      	   13198	     91043 ns/op	    8601 B/op	     118 allocs/op
+func BenchmarkIteratorLargeBaselayer(b *testing.B) {
+	var storage = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+
+	mkAccounts := func(num int) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
+			h := common.Hash{}
+			binary.BigEndian.PutUint64(h[:], uint64(i+1))
+			accounts[h] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(2000), storage)
+
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts(20), storage)
+
+	for i := 2; i < 100; i++ {
+		child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+			mkAccounts(20), storage)
+
+	}
+	// We call this once before the benchmark, so the creation of
+	// sorted accountlists are not included in the results.
+	child.newBinaryIterator()
+	b.Run("binary iterator", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			got := 0
+			it := child.newBinaryIterator()
+			for it.Next() {
+				got++
+			}
+			if exp := 2000; got != exp {
+				b.Errorf("iterator len wrong, expected %d, got %d", exp, got)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+	b.Run("fast iterator", func(b *testing.B) {
+		for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+			got := 0
+			it := child.newFastIterator()
+			for it.Next() {
+				got++
+			}
+			if exp := 2000; got != exp {
+				b.Errorf("iterator len wrong, expected %d, got %d", exp, got)
+			}
+		}
+	})
+}
+
+// TestIteratorFlatting tests what happens when we
+// - have a live iterator on child C (parent C1 -> C2 .. CN)
+// - flattens C2 all the way into CN
+// - continues iterating
+// Right now, this "works" simply because the keys do not change -- the
+// iterator is not aware that a layer has become stale. This naive
+// solution probably won't work in the long run, however
+func TestIteratorFlattning(t *testing.T) {
+	var (
+		storage = make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+	)
+	mkAccounts := func(args ...string) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for _, h := range args {
+			accounts[common.HexToHash(h)] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+	// entries in multiple layers should only become output once
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xaa", "0xee", "0xff", "0xf0"), storage)
+
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xbb", "0xdd", "0xf0"), storage)
+
+	child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xcc", "0xf0", "0xff"), storage)
+
+	it := child.newFastIterator()
+	child.parent.(*diffLayer).flatten()
+	// The parent should now be stale
+	verifyIterator(t, 7, it)
+}
+
+func TestIteratorSeek(t *testing.T) {
+	storage := make(map[common.Hash]map[common.Hash][]byte)
+	mkAccounts := func(args ...string) map[common.Hash][]byte {
+		accounts := make(map[common.Hash][]byte)
+		for _, h := range args {
+			accounts[common.HexToHash(h)] = randomAccount()
+		}
+		return accounts
+	}
+	parent := newDiffLayer(emptyLayer{}, common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xaa", "0xee", "0xff", "0xf0"), storage)
+	it := parent.newIterator()
+	// expected: ee, f0, ff
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xdd"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 3, it)
+
+	it = parent.newIterator().(*dlIterator)
+	// expected: ee, f0, ff
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xaa"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 3, it)
+
+	it = parent.newIterator().(*dlIterator)
+	// expected: nothing
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xff"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 0, it)
+
+	child := parent.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xbb", "0xdd", "0xf0"), storage)
+
+	child = child.Update(common.Hash{},
+		mkAccounts("0xcc", "0xf0", "0xff"), storage)
+
+	it = child.newFastIterator()
+	// expected: cc, dd, ee, f0, ff
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xbb"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 5, it)
+
+	it = child.newFastIterator()
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xef"))
+	// exp: f0, ff
+	verifyIterator(t, 2, it)
+
+	it = child.newFastIterator()
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xf0"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 1, it)
+
+	it.Seek(common.HexToHash("0xff"))
+	verifyIterator(t, 0, it)
+
+}
diff --git a/core/state/snapshot/iteration.md b/core/state/snapshot/iteration.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ca1962d42
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/state/snapshot/iteration.md
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+
+## How the fast iterator works
+
+Consider the following example, where we have `6` iterators, sorted from
+left to right in ascending order.
+
+Our 'primary' `A` iterator is on the left, containing the elements `[0,1,8]`
+```
+ A  B  C  D  E  F
+
+ 0  1  2  4  7  9
+ 1  2  9  -  14 13
+ 8  8  -     15 15
+ -  -        -  16
+                 -
+```
+When we call `Next` on the primary iterator, we get (ignoring the future keys)
+
+```
+A  B  C  D  E  F
+
+1  1  2  4  7  9
+```
+We detect that we now got an equality between our element and the next element.
+And we need to continue `Next`ing on the next element
+
+```
+1  2  2  4  7  9
+```
+And move on:
+```
+A  B  C  D  E  F
+
+1  2  9  4  7  9
+```
+Now we broke out of the equality, but we need to re-sort the element `C`
+
+```
+A  B  D  E  F  C
+
+1  2  4  7  9  9
+```
+
+And after shifting it rightwards, we check equality again, and find `C == F`, and thus
+call `Next` on `C`
+
+```
+A  B  D  E  F  C
+
+1  2  4  7  9  -
+```
+At this point, `C` was exhausted, and is removed
+
+```
+A  B  D  E  F
+
+1  2  4  7  9
+```
+And we're done with this step.
+