Core developers of the Ethereum Network announced the deployment of the ERC-4337 token standard on 1st March at the ETHDenver’s WalletCon event. The ETH token standard will allow “account abstraction” that will enable digital wallets to function as programmable smart contracts and pave the way for its users to recover their lost private keys.
Security researcher Ethereum Foundation, Yoav Weiss, shared the news, announcing the successful functioning of the code and passing the security audit under OpenZeppelin. The deployment of ERC 4337 as a smart contract means that no major modifications to the core ETH protocol were required to set up the new token standard.
The ERC 43372 tokens are now available on every blockchain network that offers compatibility with Ethereum smart contract engine called Ethereum Virtual Machine.
Many top researchers of the Ethereum network proposed ERC 4337, including Vitalik Buterin and Weiss, in 2021. ERC 4337 transactions are processed by an alternative mempool to other ETH transactions and require special validators.
Top digital wallet apps like Coinbase and MetaMask provide their users with an Externally Owned Account, where only the user who owns the private keys for the account can make the transactions.
On the other hand, a Contract Account wallet is operated by smart contracts. This provides users with more flexibility in managing transactions and private keys. It means users can design different mechanisms, allowing private keys to be retrieved when required.
Coming to Account Abstraction will allow users to break the current practice of storing a chain of words on paper and offer new ways of securing wallets. For instance, users can create two-factor authentication to use their wallets via biometrics or operate multi-signature wallets that provide shared access to any account.
Co-founder and chief scientist of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, stated that ERC 4337 allows a completely decentralized market for the operations of smart contract wallets.
