Account Abstraction: The What, the How, and the Benefits
MC² Finance Team
3 min read
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Instead of you checking your crypto wallet, what if your wallet could check up on you (and your investments)?
No more scrambling during those “oh no, did I forget to move my funds” moments or panicking about missed trades while you’re stuck in traffic.
That’s the kind of peace of mind account abstraction offers, and in this article, we’re going to explore what it is, how it operates, and what features it offers (with examples).
What is account abstraction?
Account abstraction turns your crypto wallets into smart contracts, allowing automated transactions, better security, and easier control without needing manual handling of private keys.
Account abstraction’s value in DeFi is underrated. Source: X
How does account abstraction work?
Here's a step-by-step breakdown:
First interaction
Smart contract wallet
Rules and preferences
Transaction creation
Smart contract execution
Transaction bundling
1. First interaction
You start by interacting with a blockchain-enabled platform (e.g., sending tokens, interacting with DeFi protocols) through a wallet interface.
Like by connecting your wallet for account abstraction. Source: MC² Finance App
2. Smart contract wallet
Then, instead of relying on an externally owned account (EOA) linked to a private key, account abstraction manages your account through a smart contract wallet.
How your smart contract wallet will come into being. Source: Alchemy
Transaction limits (e.g., only approve trades below a certain amount).
Automated approvals for specific dApps or transaction types.
Security preferences (i.e., multi-signature requirements or time locks).
Recovery mechanisms (e.g., trusted addresses that can help recover access if you lose your key).
Under account abstraction, smart contract wallets use predefined rules. Source: Springer
4. Transaction creation
When you initiate a transaction, the wallet sends your intent to the smart contract wallet, which manages the transaction before broadcasting it to the blockchain.
In account abstraction, user intents are broken into segments that are processed in order. Source: Essential
Such “proxy” contracts forward tasks to another contract that handles updates and rules. Source: ThirdWeb
6. Transaction bundling
Hence, you can combine multiple actions, like sending tokens or using dApps, into one transaction, which smart contracts process together.
How bundled transactions in account abstraction are sent for verification and execution. Source: Zeeve
What are the benefits of account abstraction?
The benefits of account abstraction are:
Better security
Easier wallet use
Works across different blockchains
Automatic transactions
Cheaper fees
Customizable options
Improved recovery
1. Better security
With account abstraction, losing your private key isn’t a disaster.
Account abstraction set to enhance your wallets security. Source: X
You can add custom security measures, like requiring multiple approvals for transactions, and set recovery options to easily regain access.
💡 Gnosis Safe offers extra security with multi-signature approvals, but its complex interface can be overwhelming for everyday use.
2. Easier wallet use
Even if losing your private keys wasn’t a big concern, handling them for every transaction surely is, but with account abstraction, that entire process is automated.
Easy crypto onboarding with account abstraction. Source: X
You don’t need to manually approve or sign off on every action—you just set your preferences, and smart contracts handle the rest.
💡 Argent is a wallet offering private key management and recovery without seed phrases, but it’s limited to Ethereum.
3. Works across different blockchains
Normally, you’d need separate wallets or accounts for Ethereum, Binance, and other blockchains, which is a pain to manage.
Account abstraction helps update the blockchain ecosystem. Source: X
With account abstraction, you can interact with different blockchains from **one wallet (run by smart contracts)**.
💡 MetaMask offers a way to interact with multiple blockchains, but you have to use cross-chain bridges to move your assets between blockchains.
4. Automatic transactions
Account abstraction also enables you to set up rules for transactions to happen automatically.
Account abstractions allows you to program rules to operate your wallet. Source: X
For instance, you can program your wallet to sell a token when its price hits a certain target, and the smart contract will handle it for you.
💡 Yearn Finance moves your funds to the highest-yield farming opportunities, but doesn’t cover broader transaction types, like automating trades or interacting with different DeFi protocols.
"The next billion users won’t write 12 words on a paper,” Yoav Weiss, Ethereum Foundation Researcher
When it comes to account abstraction, each platform has strengths but also drawbacks.
Its just that only MC² Finance combines all these strengths: cross-chain compatibility, automated transactions, multi-signature security, flexible recovery options, and lower gas fees.