Vitalk Buterin drafts EIP-7702 to reinforce externally owned accounts

In a current proposal, distinguished Ethereum builders, together with Vitalik Buterin, Sam Wilson, Ansgar Dietrichs, and Matt Garnett, steered a brand new transaction kind to reinforce Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs).

The proposal, presently in draft standing, outlines the creation of a brand new transaction kind that briefly converts EOAs into good contract wallets throughout transaction execution, providing functionalities just like these outlined in EIP-3074.

In accordance with the draft proposal, EIP-7702 would permit for transaction batching and sponsored transactions paid for by one other account. The proposed transaction kind would come with a contract_code subject and a signature, enabling EOAs to undertake good contract functionalities briefly.

The core intention is to supply enhanced usability and safety for EOAs, addressing widespread points like batching transactions, sponsorship of transactions, and privilege de-escalation.

The usual would additionally permit for de-escalated privileges by enabling customers to signal subkeys with restricted permissions. For instance, a pockets administrator might permit subkey holders to spend solely ERC-20 tokens, use solely a part of a pockets stability, or entry choose functions.

Various to EIP-3074

The draft proposal supplies an alternative choice to EIP-3074, an present normal that provides most of the identical capabilities.

Nonetheless, EIP-7702 goals to deal with forward-compatibility points. Not like EIP-3074, it doesn’t introduce opcodes, which might supposedly grow to be out of date in an “endgame account abstraction” the place all customers use good contract wallets.

Buterin and co-proposers consider endgame account abstraction is probably going when quantum computing breaks the cryptography utilized in normal Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) or normal user-controlled Ethereum wallets.

EIP-3074 might additionally create an invoker contract ecosystem separate from the good contract pockets ecosystem. With EIP-7702, the proposers intention to keep away from a division of efforts.

Regardless of its potential advantages, Buterin famous that EIP-7702 would possibly face related criticism as its counterpart, because it requires belief in code and will result in centralization. He believes that any proposal to deal with privilege de-escalation faces the identical problem.

Ongoing developments

EIP-7702 is presently within the draft stage, and its future is unclear.

Nonetheless, builders intend to incorporate EIP-3074 in Ethereum’s subsequent improve, Pectra, in late 2024 or early 2025.

One other associated normal, ERC-4337, supplies account abstraction options with related functions, together with group-access wallets and bundled and sponsored transactions. Builders deployed the usual to Ethereum in March 2023.

Collectively, such requirements permit providers to manage consumer wallets with out sustaining direct custody of consumer funds, offering a key various to completely centralized providers.

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