diff --git a/tests/waku_rln_relay/test_rln_group_manager_onchain.nim b/tests/waku_rln_relay/test_rln_group_manager_onchain.nim
index 1c2807d31..1123ba0a9 100644
--- a/tests/waku_rln_relay/test_rln_group_manager_onchain.nim
+++ b/tests/waku_rln_relay/test_rln_group_manager_onchain.nim
@@ -97,7 +97,8 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
     check:
       merkleRootBefore != merkleRootAfter
 
-  test "trackRootChanges: should fetch history correctly":
+  test "trackRootChanges: should fetch history correctly: fetch single root()":
+    # basic check for the soon to be deprecated root contract function, is replaced by getRecentRoots()
     # TODO: We can't use `trackRootChanges()` directly in this test because its current implementation
     #       relies on a busy loop rather than event-based monitoring. but that busy loop fetch root every 5 seconds
     #       so we can't use it in this test. 
@@ -123,6 +124,32 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
       merkleRootBefore != merkleRootAfter
       manager.validRoots.len() == credentialCount
 
+  test "trackRootChanges: should fetch history correctly: fetch root cache":
+    # TODO: We can't use `trackRootChanges()` directly in this test because its current implementation
+    #       relies on a busy loop rather than event-based monitoring. but that busy loop fetch root every 5 seconds
+    #       so we can't use it in this test. 
+
+    const credentialCount = 6
+    let credentials = generateCredentials(credentialCount)
+    (waitFor manager.init()).isOkOr:
+      raiseAssert $error
+
+    let merkleRootCacheBefore = (waitFor manager.fetchMerkleRootsCache()).valueOr:
+      raiseAssert "Failed to fetch merkle root before: " & error
+
+    for i in 0 ..< credentials.len():
+      info "Registering credential", index = i, credential = credentials[i]
+      (waitFor manager.register(credentials[i], UserMessageLimit(20))).isOkOr:
+        assert false, "Failed to register credential " & $i & ": " & error
+      discard waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
+
+    let merkleRootCacheAfter = (waitFor manager.fetchMerkleRootsCache()).valueOr:
+      raiseAssert "Failed to fetch merkle root after: " & error
+
+    check:
+      merkleRootCacheBefore != merkleRootCacheAfter
+      manager.validRoots.len() == credentialCount
+
   test "trackRootChanges: oldest roots are evicted once the window is exceeded":
     const
       initialCount = 5
@@ -135,7 +162,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
     for i in 0 ..< initialCount:
       (waitFor manager.register(credentials[i], UserMessageLimit(20))).isOkOr:
         assert false, "Failed to register credential " & $i & ": " & error
-      discard waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+      discard waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     check manager.validRoots.len() >= 3
     let firstThreeBefore =
@@ -145,7 +172,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
     for i in initialCount ..< credentials.len():
       (waitFor manager.register(credentials[i], UserMessageLimit(20))).isOkOr:
         assert false, "Failed to register credential " & $i & ": " & error
-      discard waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+      discard waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     let rootsAfter = manager.validRoots.items().toSeq()
 
@@ -250,7 +277,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
 
     waitFor fut
 
-    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     if rootUpdated:
       let proofResult = waitFor manager.fetchMerkleProofElements()
@@ -332,7 +359,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
       assert false, "error returned when calling register: " & error
     waitFor fut
 
-    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     if rootUpdated:
       let proofResult = waitFor manager.fetchMerkleProofElements()
@@ -369,7 +396,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
 
     let messageBytes = "Hello".toBytes()
 
-    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+    let rootUpdated = waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     manager.merkleProofCache = newSeq[byte](640)
     for i in 0 ..< 640:
@@ -398,7 +425,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
       verified == false
 
   test "root queue should be updated correctly":
-    const credentialCount = 12
+    const credentialCount = 9
     let credentials = generateCredentials(credentialCount)
     (waitFor manager.init()).isOkOr:
       raiseAssert $error
@@ -427,7 +454,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
     for i in 0 ..< credentials.len():
       (waitFor manager.register(credentials[i], UserMessageLimit(20))).isOkOr:
         assert false, "Failed to register credential " & $i & ": " & error
-      discard waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+      discard waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
 
     waitFor allFutures(futures)
 
@@ -472,7 +499,7 @@ suite "Onchain group manager":
     (waitFor manager.register(credentials, UserMessageLimit(20))).isOkOr:
       assert false, "register failed: " & error
 
-    discard waitFor manager.updateRoots()
+    discard waitFor manager.updateRecentRoots()
     let roots = manager.validRoots.items().toSeq()
     require:
       roots.len > 0
diff --git a/waku/waku_rln_relay/group_manager/on_chain/group_manager.nim b/waku/waku_rln_relay/group_manager/on_chain/group_manager.nim
index 363b86b31..25ae11f96 100644
--- a/waku/waku_rln_relay/group_manager/on_chain/group_manager.nim
+++ b/waku/waku_rln_relay/group_manager/on_chain/group_manager.nim
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ proc fetchMerkleRoot*(
     error "Failed to fetch Merkle root", error = getCurrentExceptionMsg()
     return err("Failed to fetch merkle root: " & getCurrentExceptionMsg())
 
-proc fetchMerkleRoot*(
+proc fetchMerkleRootsCache*(
     g: OnchainGroupManager
 ): Future[Result[seq[byte], string]] {.async.} =
   let
@@ -148,72 +148,49 @@ proc checkInitialized(g: OnchainGroupManager): Result[void, string] =
     return err("OnchainGroupManager is not initialized")
   return ok()
 
-# proc updateRoots*(g: OnchainGroupManager): Future[bool] {.async.} =
-#   let rootRes = await g.fetchMerkleRoot()
-#   if rootRes.isErr():
-#     return false
-
-#   let merkleRoot = UInt256ToField(rootRes.get())
-
-#   if g.validRoots.len == 0:
-#     g.validRoots.addLast(merkleRoot)
-#     return true
-
-#   if g.validRoots[g.validRoots.len - 1] != merkleRoot:
-#     if g.validRoots.len > AcceptableRootWindowSize:
-#       discard g.validRoots.popFirst()
-#     g.validRoots.addLast(merkleRoot)
-#     return true
-
-#   return false
-
 proc updateRoots*(g: OnchainGroupManager): Future[bool] {.async.} =
   let rootRes = await g.fetchMerkleRoot()
-  # let rootRes = await g.fetchMerkleRecentRoots()
+  if rootRes.isErr():
+    return false
+
+  let merkleRoot = UInt256ToField(rootRes.get())
+
+  if g.validRoots.len == 0:
+    g.validRoots.addLast(merkleRoot)
+    return true
+
+  if g.validRoots[g.validRoots.len - 1] != merkleRoot:
+    if g.validRoots.len > AcceptableRootWindowSize:
+      discard g.validRoots.popFirst()
+    g.validRoots.addLast(merkleRoot)
+    return true
+
+  return false
+
+proc updateRecentRoots*(g: OnchainGroupManager): Future[bool] {.async.} =
+  let rootRes = await g.fetchMerkleRootsCache()
   if rootRes.isErr():
     error "Failed to fetch recent roots", error = rootRes.error
     return false
 
   let bytes = rootRes.get()
-  debug "recent roots raw bytes received", length = bytes.len
   if (bytes.len mod 32) != 0:
     error "Invalid recent roots payload length", length = bytes.len
     return false
 
   let chunkCount = bytes.len div 32
-  debug "recent roots parsed chunk count", chunks = chunkCount
   if chunkCount != 5:
     warn "Unexpected number of recent roots returned; proceeding anyway",
       count = chunkCount
 
-  # Parse 32-byte chunks into MerkleNode values (UInt256 -> Field bytes)
-  var newRoots: seq[MerkleNode] = @[] # newest-first order from contract
-  var zeroIndices: seq[int] = @[]
-  for i in 0 ..< chunkCount:
-    let startIdx = i * 32
-    let endIdx = (i + 1) * 32 - 1
-    var allZero = true
-    for b in bytes[startIdx .. endIdx]:
-      if b != 0'u8:
-        allZero = false
-        break
-    if allZero:
-      zeroIndices.add(i)
-    let u = UInt256.fromBytesBE(bytes[startIdx .. endIdx])
-    let node = UInt256ToField(u)
-    newRoots.add(node)
-
-  if zeroIndices.len > 0:
-    debug "zero or empty roots detected in recent roots",
-      zeroRootsCount = zeroIndices.len, indices = zeroIndices
-
-  # Convert to deque order: oldest-first (so newest ends up at tail)
-  # Skip zero roots so they are not added to the validRoots list
+  # Parse 32-byte chunks (contract returns newest-first) into MerkleNode values,
+  # reversing to oldest-first and skipping zero roots.
   var newRootsDequeOrder: seq[MerkleNode] = @[]
-  for i in countdown(newRoots.len - 1, 0):
-    if zeroIndices.contains(i):
+  for startIdx in countdown(bytes.len - 32, 0, 32):
+    let u = UInt256.fromBytesBE(bytes.toOpenArray(startIdx, startIdx + 31))
+    if u.isZero:
       continue
-    newRootsDequeOrder.add(newRoots[i])
+    newRootsDequeOrder.add(UInt256ToField(u))
 
   if newRootsDequeOrder.len == 0:
     debug "no non-zero recent roots to add; skipping update"
@@ -236,24 +213,22 @@ proc updateRoots*(g: OnchainGroupManager): Future[bool] {.async.} =
 
   let toAdd = newRootsDequeOrder[matchLen ..< newRootsDequeOrder.len]
   if toAdd.len == 0:
-    debug "recent roots already present up-to-date; skipping update"
     return false
 
   # If this is the first time, just seed the deque with all provided roots
   if g.validRoots.len == 0:
     for r in newRootsDequeOrder:
-      debug "adding new recent root", root = r
       g.validRoots.addLast(r)
+    debug "seeded recent roots", count = newRootsDequeOrder.len
     return true
 
-  # Add all new roots to the "top" (tail) and drop the bottom 5
+  # Add all new roots to the "top" (tail) and trim to AcceptableRootWindowSize
   for r in toAdd:
-    debug "adding new recent root", root = r
     g.validRoots.addLast(r)
+  debug "appended recent roots", count = toAdd.len, roots = toAdd
 
-  # Only trim the deque if it exceeds the acceptable window size
   while g.validRoots.len > AcceptableRootWindowSize:
-    debug "removing old recent root", root = g.validRoots[0]
+    trace "removing old merkle root", root = g.validRoots[0]
     discard g.validRoots.popFirst()
 
   return true