Ethereum developer Yoav Weiss announced ERC-4337, or “smart accounts,” at WalletCon in Denver, Colorado, on March 1.
ERC-4337 (formerly EIP-4337) is also known as account abstraction. It provides a foundation for various features such as account recovery and group access wallets. Other possible applications include pooled and sponsored transactions for reduced transaction fees.
It will also allow platforms to provide crypto services without requiring users to set up a traditional wallet and manually store their passphrase or private key. The account abstraction stores keys locally in the user’s HSM —not with any service provider— and is therefore as secure as a self-custodial crypto wallet.
ERC-4337 was added to Ethereum via a smart contract, which was introduced without forking the entire blockchain. He relevant smart contract was implemented on February 28, several hours before the feature was officially announced.
The feature can also be introduced on any EVM-compliant blockchain, including BNB Smart Chain (BNB), Polygon (MATIC), Avalanche (AVAX), and many others.
ERC-4337 was notably endorsed by Visa last December. The company recognized account abstraction as a possible way for users to schedule crypto payments automatically.
Other more extensive Ethereum upgrades are also underway. The blockchain is preparing for its Shanghai upgrade, allowing validators to withdraw staked ETH. That feature went live on a testnet this week and should be fully introduced this month.