Vitalik Buterin pitches upgrade to Ethereum account abstraction

Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Buterin proposed a joint idea to improve account abstraction for standard on-chain addresses. 

Dubbed Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7702, the concept would introduce a new transaction method that allows externally owned accounts (EOAs), otherwise known as the defacto Ethereum (ETH) account, to execute smart contract wallet functions.

After transactions are completed, EOAs would revert to the default state. Buterin co-authored EIP-7702 with Ansgar Dietrich, Matt Garnett, and Sam Wilson to offer better synergy with smart contract capabilities enshrined in EIP-4337.

According to Uniswap Founder Hayden Adams, EIP-7702 also brings quantum resistance as a substitute for EIP-3074, which developers mulled shipping with the next blockchain upgrade after Dencun called Petra. 

Vitalik just proposed EIP-7702.

It's one of the most impactful changes Ethereum is going to have… EVER.

So, here's everything you need to know about how it works and how we got here:

— Jarrod Watts (@jarrodWattsDev) May 8, 2024

Vitalik Buterin’s Ethereum account abstraction

Buterin and other developers proposed account abstraction in 2020 and 2021 as a framework to enable advanced features like wallet recovery and multi-factor authentication for regular ETH addresses. 

Account abstraction was deployed on the ETH mainnet in March last year, providing greater flexibility for users looking to swap any token and leverage better on-chain operability. 

Buterin has frequently noted that account abstraction will play a major role in the future of blockchain transactions, complementing the quintessential “cypherpunk” approach and bolstering solutions like zero-knowledge proofs.