Publish Date

October 4, 2024

Account Abstraction: The What, the How, and the Benefits

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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:

  1. First interaction
  2. Smart contract wallet
  3. Rules and preferences
  4. Transaction creation
  5. Smart contract execution
  6. 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

3. User rules and preferences

Within such a wallet, specific rules can be set, like:

  • 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

5. Smart contract execution

The smart contract wallet checks if the transaction adheres to these rules and preferences and rejects any transaction that doesn’t meet this condition.

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:

  1. Better security
  2. Easier wallet use
  3. Works across different blockchains
  4. Automatic transactions
  5. Cheaper fees
  6. Customizable options
  7. 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.

5. Cheaper fees

Furthermore, account abstraction can save you money by batching multiple transactions into one.

Batch transactions are “easy-work” for account abstraction. Source: X

So instead of paying gas fees for each action, you only pay once for the bundled operation.

💡 ZkSync uses layer-2 rollups to cut Ethereum gas fees, but it only works on Ethereum, so you’ll need separate wallets for other blockchains.

6. Customizable options

With account abstraction, you can fully customize how your wallet works.

Customize it just the way you want. Source: X

You can set up automated trades or decide how gas fees are managed.

💡 SafePal lets you customize transactions and supports hardware wallets for extra security, but it lacks built-in smart contract automation.

7. Improved recovery

One of the best features of account abstraction is its recovery options.

Account abstraction drives away “key-recovery” fears. Source: X

You can set up trusted contacts or use other recovery mechanisms to safely regain control of your account, unlike traditional wallets.

💡 ZenGo replaces seed phrases with facial recognition; however, its recovery system is centralized.

Final thoughts

"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.

So what are you waiting for…

see how optimized your wallet truly is!