Vitalik Buterin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, along with Sam Wilson, Ansgar Dietrichs, and Matt Garnett, have presented Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 7702 as an alternative to EIP-3074. The purpose of this proposal is to improve account abstraction on the Ethereum network.
EIP-7702 proposes a novel transaction type that would make it possible for standard Ethereum account addresses, also known as externally owned accounts (EOAs), to temporarily function as smart contract wallets during a transaction. After the transaction is complete, the EOAs will revert back to their original form.
The EIP-7702 serves as a new option to the EIP-3074, which was previously considered for inclusion in the future Pectra upgrade. However, according to Uniswap founder Hayden Adams, it now includes quantum resistance and improved compatibility with the 4337.
Among the broader standards for smart contract wallets, ERC-4337 is considered to be “endgame account abstraction.” The objective of EIP-7702 is to achieve compliance with ERC-4337.
Under the proposal, it was noted that “this EIP is designed to be very forward-compatible with endgame account abstraction without over-enshrining any fine-grained details of ERC-4337.”
Wallets are able to function as smart contracts and operate with a variety of advanced features thanks to account abstraction. These features include multi-factor authentication, wallet social recovery, and the ability for users to transact with any token they choose.
It is possible that EIP-7702 will alter the manner in which account abstraction is implemented in future network updates as the Ethereum community determines how to evaluate the proposal.
The new transaction type, which was proposed in EIP–7702, has fields for contract code and a signature. It also provides the same functionalities that were proposed in EIP–3074, such as batch and sponsored transactions.
In order to incorporate EOAs into ERC-4337 bundles in a manner that is consistent with the EntryPoint that is already in place, it is necessary to grant them the ability to temporarily transform themselves into contracts.