Making cryptocurrency wallets easier to use has suddenly become a primary priority for blockchain organizations as they pursue the holy grail of widespread adoption. With regard to the Pectra blockchain’s upcoming major hard split, Ethereum developers have been proceeding with their talks and incorporation of specific Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs).
EIP-3074, a code modification intended to enhance the user experience with blockchain wallets, is one of the ideas that has generated both favor and criticism from the Ethereum community. The developers of Ethereum have already addressed problems that would facilitate wallet use and implemented features that unlocked more possibilities. However, engineers are currently working to solidify the experience in the blockchain and make it even simpler.
By enabling smart contracts to authorize externally owned accounts (EOAs), this new modification is intended to make a certain kind of wallet more programmable.
There are now two kinds of wallet accounts on Ethereum: smart contract wallets like Argent and Safe, and Ethereum Open Accounts (EOAs), which are the most widely used kind. Examples of EOAs include MetaMask and Coinbase.
A public and private key is provided to users of EOA accounts, whereas smart contract accounts function as code-controlled wallets. Human mistake is the root of the EOA issue; in the event that you misplace your private key, there is no help desk or procedure for recovering your key that can enable you to access your money again.
Account abstraction (AA) is a concept that enables users to reclaim their cryptocurrency with smart contract capabilities. Previous proposals, such as ERC-4337, have attempted to make EOAs easier to use.
Another step forward in this kind of innovation is EIP-3074, which gives smart contracts the ability to handle transactions. Enabling users to group transactions and have them approved all at once is a crucial aspect of the concept. Third parties can sponsor users’ transaction fees, among other advantages.
The primary distinction between ERC-4337 and EIP-3074 is that the later concentrates on obtaining all the advantages of account abstraction on all EVM chains, whilst the former focuses on obtaining all the advantages of execution abstraction, although in a less effective non-native manner.
Reaction from the community
While a large number of community members expressed support for the proposal, some advised against moving forward due to security issues with the functionality that allows for batch transactions.
While this proposal does move in the right direction, Lukas Schor, the co-founder of Safe who has argued for ERC-4337 and the implementation of full account abstraction in Ethereum wallets, expressed concerns that the EIP lacks “any clear pathway to full AA and has a net-negative impact on AA adoption.”
