Blockchain: Unveiling the Implementation and Applications of Account Abstraction

As the industry progresses, the complexity of on-chain abstraction becomes clearer, and one crucial truth emerges: without support for account abstraction, the on-chain revolution would struggle to take off.

So, what’s the current state of account abstraction? Let’s dive in.

What is Account Abstraction?

In today’s blockchain world, transaction authorization heavily relies on complex private key signatures. It’s like having to carry a bulky key every time you step out. Specifically, this means:

• You can’t authorize transactions as easily as logging into your email, using your phone, or employing two-factor authentication.
• Each transaction needs a private key signature, requiring users to click through numerous prompts.

However, account abstraction offers game-changing benefits:

• Authorizing transactions becomes as easy as breathing. Imagine no longer needing to remember 12 random words, and being able to complete crypto transactions as effortlessly as clicking “Sign in with Google” on many websites.
• Users can batch-process transactions, significantly improving efficiency.
• You can create backup keys and entrust them to friends or family, ensuring you don’t lose access if you forget your password.
• You can have others pay the on-chain fees for you when necessary, simplifying operations.

Despite these advantages, why do current crypto wallets still dominate our lives? It raises the question: Are we just used to the hassle?

Development Progress

To understand the journey towards making account abstraction the wallet standard, we need to focus on three key Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs):

• EIP-4337: This proposal is like a technological feast, allowing users to delegate on-chain operations to third-party bundlers, simplifying transaction processes. The best part? It doesn’t require an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) upgrade, so you can enjoy the benefits of account abstraction today. But if everyone’s complaining about current wallets, why haven’t we switched to this new option?

Challenges with EIP-4337 include:

• Current wallets can’t upgrade smoothly.
• Higher transaction costs from a gas fee perspective.
• Censorship risk — if your chosen bundler decides not to support your AA wallet, transactions can’t go through, similar to a bank rejecting your transfer request.

These issues are hurdles, but can we overcome them? EIP-3074 aims to enable current wallets to seamlessly upgrade to account abstraction wallets. However, this requires changes to the EVM and introduces new opcodes, challenging the system’s security.

• EIP-3074: This proposal aims to enable current wallets to seamlessly upgrade to account abstraction wallets. However, it requires changes to the EVM and introduces new opcodes, challenging the system’s security.
• EIP-7702: Lastly, Vitalik proposed EIP-7702, a safer alternative to 3074 that’s compatible with 4337 and requires minimal changes, reducing risks. Summarizing the three:
• 4337 empowers users with account abstraction.
• 3074 allows current wallets to upgrade but poses risks of unintended authorization.
• 7702 offers a safer alternative to 3074 with fewer EVM changes.

Despite the discussions around various EIPs, we still haven’t pinpointed why existing crypto wallets remain dominant. EIP-7702 is currently hotly debated within the Ethereum research community and might be implemented in an upcoming hard fork.

Unlocking the Value of Chain Abstraction

To truly unlock the value of chain abstraction, the key lies in the active flow of transactions. Imagine a river that remains stagnant without users submitting their desired on-chain operations through the permission layer — the resolver layer cannot generate fresh outcomes. Without transaction flow, any solution loses its significance. In the future, new transaction flows might largely stem from this cutting-edge design philosophy.