Account abstraction is widely regarded as a revolutionary concept in the crypto world due to its potential to greatly enhance the user experience. Let’s break it down step by step.

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Types of Ethereum Accounts

Ethereum currently supports 2 types of accounts:

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1. Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs)

These are the common hot wallets used to make onchain transactions.

  • Controlled by: Private keys.

  • Functionality:

    • Can send messages by creating and signing transactions.
    • Initiate onchain transactions directly.

  • Examples:

Whenever you initiate an onchain transaction, you are using an EOA.

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2. Contract Accounts

These accounts are governed by smart contracts and offer programmable logic.

  • Functionality:

    • Can execute complex, custom-coded logic.
    • Can only create and send messages after receiving an initial message.
Ideal for building applications that require custom behavior.

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The Ideal Solution

The optimal account type would combine the flexibility of Contract Accounts with the direct usability of EOAs. Enter Account Abstraction.

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What is Account Abstraction?

The introduction of EIP-4337 brought account abstraction to the Ethereum ecosystem.

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EIP-4337: A Major Leap

  • Introduced smart contract accounts that:

    • Can initiate and send transactions like EOAs.
    • Incorporate arbitrary logic for more complex actions through a single account.

  • Enabled features such as:

    • Custom signature schemes.
    • Native multi-signature capabilities.
    • Application-specific restrictions.
Despite its technical advancements, EIP-4337 faces implementation issues due to its complex infrastructure requirements and partial compatibility with the Ethereum ecosystem.

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Sophon’s Approach to Account Abstraction

Sophon leverages native account abstraction (AA) built into ZKsync, offering significant advantages over Ethereum’s EIP-4337. While both approaches aim to improve account flexibility and user experience, the native AA of ZKsync—and by extension Sophon—provides a seamless, efficient, and unified solution.

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Native AA vs. EIP-4337

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1. Implementation Level

Sophon (ZKsync Native AA): Integrated directly at the protocol level, enabling a foundational, seamless experience.

EIP-4337: Operates outside the protocol as an overlay, avoiding protocol-level changes but introducing complexity.

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2. Account Types

Sophon (ZKsync Native AA):

  • All accounts, including EOAs, behave like smart contract accounts under the hood.
  • Paymasters are supported natively for all account types.
  • Smart contract accounts and paymasters are treated as first-class citizens, enabling uniform functionality.

EIP-4337:

  • Introduces smart contract accounts but retains EOAs as separate entities.
  • Paymasters are limited to smart contract accounts, excluding EOAs from benefitting.

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3. Transaction Processing

Sophon (ZKsync Native AA):

  • Features a unified transaction flow with a single mempool for both EOAs and smart contract accounts.
  • The Operator bundles transactions (regardless of account type) and sends them to the Bootloader, which processes them seamlessly.

EIP-4337:

  • Introduces a separate transaction flow for smart contract accounts.
  • Relies on a separate user operations mempool and specialized nodes called Bundlers to group user operations.
  • Requires 2 distinct flows for processing transactions:
    • Traditional flow for EOAs.
    • New flow for smart contract accounts via the EntryPoint contract.

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4. Paymasters Support

Sophon (ZKsync Native AA):

  • Supports paymasters for both EOAs and smart contract accounts due to its unified transaction flow.
  • Enables seamless gas abstraction, allowing users to pay transaction fees in tokens rather than ETH.

EIP-4337:

  • Paymasters are limited to the new transaction flow for smart contract accounts.
  • EOAs are excluded from using paymasters, resulting in limited functionality.

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Why Sophon’s Native AA Matters

By utilizing native account abstraction instead of relying on EIP-4337, Sophon simplifies the user experience while enhancing the flexibility and functionality of accounts:

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Advantages of Native AA on Sophon

  • Unified User Experience: No separate flows or complex infrastructure; all accounts behave consistently.
  • Gas Abstraction for All: Both EOAs and smart contract accounts benefit from paymasters, making gas payments more user-friendly.
  • Streamlined Transactions: A single mempool ensures faster and more efficient processing.
  • Protocol-Level Security: Native integration eliminates reliance on external overlays, enhancing robustness and reducing vulnerabilities.
Sophon eliminates the need for complex infrastructure, making account abstraction seamless and efficient.

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Enhancing Sophon Accounts with Paymasters

Paymasters further elevate the functionality of Sophon accounts by:

  • Abstracting transaction fees: Allowing applications to subsidize or manage gas fees on behalf of users.
  • Improving user experience: Enabling gasless transactions and simplified interactions.

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Conclusion

Account abstraction is no longer just a theoretical leap. With Sophon’s native implementation, users and developers can harness the best of both EOAs and Contract Accounts, unlocking new possibilities for innovation and usability.