What is account abstraction?

TL;DR

• Security and UX limits have stood as a constant barrier to expanding blockchain to a wider audience.
• The solution? account abstraction (AA), the software layer that enables “smart” crypto accounts with a more seamless, Web2-like UX.
• While also possible on Ethereum, AA is the default setting on Starknet. With Starknet’s native AA, every account on the network is a smart account.

Introduction to account abstraction

The use of self-custodial crypto wallets has been touted as a security advantage of using blockchain applications over traditional (Web2) applications. This is because they eliminate the need to trust a third party to hold your assets. The problem is these wallets have traditionally faced user experience (UX) limitations. As a result, they’re clunky to use, lacking in functionality, and not as secure as they could be.

Enter account abstraction (AA).

AA is a way to make self-custodial crypto wallets smarter, easier to use, and more secure than traditional self-custodial wallets, known as externally owned accounts (EOAs). AA is crucial for onboarding new users to blockchain, users who are accustomed to the ease of Web2 apps.

Traditional wallets rely on private keys for security. This means losing a key could result in losing access to your funds forever. Account abstraction changes this by introducing smart-contract wallets. These eliminate users’ reliance on the private key, instead making wallets programmable. Wallets make it possible to automate payments, recover accounts through trusted contacts, or integrate with other apps, combining the simplicity of Web2 tools with the flexibility of Web3. With this improved UX, non-custodial wallets can finally scale to millions of mainstream crypto users.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at account abstraction. We’ll explore how it’s implemented on platforms like Ethereum and Starknet, and show you how blockchain can evolve to meet the needs of millions of new users for yourself.

EOAs create barriers to mass blockchain adoption

EOAs were Ethereum’s default way of representing users on the blockchain. They allow people to interact with the network and own assets by linking those assets to the account using cryptographic keys.

On paper, EOAs seem like a simple and straightforward solution. But their design comes with some major limitations that make them less user-friendly, creating a barrier to mass adoption. This is especially true for those unfamiliar with blockchain.

The biggest issue is determined in the protocol: EOAs are controlled by a pair of cryptographic keys—a public key that identifies the account and a private key that authorizes transactions. While this setup provides basic security, it’s simply too rigid to meet the growing demand for a more accessible and customizable blockchain experience. This leads to:

• Poor UX: The requirement to keep the private key in a secure, discreet place is far from intuitive for users who are accustomed to modern methods like a 6-digit password or face ID. This makes initiating transactions feel unnecessarily complicated.
• Complete dependence on a key: The private key isn’t just the only way to initiate transactions; it’s also how the protocol identifies the account’s owner. This creates a serious security risk. If your key is compromised, the protocol treats the attacker as the legitimate account holder.
• Protocol-defined control: The Ethereum protocol dictates how EOAs operate, leaving no room for developers to customize accounts or create user-specific features. This rigid design limits innovation and makes it harder to address unique user needs.

The complications resulting from EOAs being the default mechanism for transacting on blockchain discourage users from adoption.

How account abstraction breaks the EOA barrier to improve blockchain usability

The challenge of account behavior being hardwired into the protocol rather than determined by users is seen across most blockchains. Ethereum Co-Founder Vitalik Buterin first addressed this issue back in 2015, highlighting account abstraction as a solution. He envisioned AA as a way to make accounts easier to manage by reducing, or even eliminating, dependence on private keys. More importantly, he saw it as a way to create a smoother, more intuitive Web3 experience, one that could rival the ease of use people expect from Web2. As such, he predicted AA would pave the way to mass adoption.

Approaches to account abstraction

Since then, several approaches to account abstraction have taken shape. These have given developers more flexibility to create powerful applications while simplifying how users manage their accounts.

What is Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade?

From a glance at the table above, you’ll see that account abstraction has been possible on Ethereum since 2023, via ERC-4337. The catch is it’s only possible on a separate layer on top of Ethereum—not natively. Ethereum’s upcoming Pectra upgrade is about to change that.

Pectra—a merge of two upgrades: Prague + Electra—will bring native account abstraction features to Ethereum for the first time, mainly via a proposal called EIP-7702. The upgrade will do so by introducing smart-account functionality to externally owned accounts (EOAs) directly on Ethereum.

Today, EOAs can only send and receive transactions. They can’t have custom logic like multisig approvals, session keys, or automatic payments—features we associate with account abstraction. EIP-7702 changes this by allowing EOAs to temporarily behave like smart-contract accounts during a transaction, enabling custom logic without requiring the user to deploy a separate smart contract wallet.

EIP-7702 allows an EOA to provide temporary contract code that defines how a transaction should be authorized and executed. This enables bundled transactions, meta-transactions, batched approvals, and other advanced behaviors—all while keeping EOAs fully compatible with existing wallets and infrastructure.

In other words: EOAs will behave more like smart accounts for the duration of a transaction, without permanently changing their structure or sacrificing compatibility.

How Ethereum’s account abstraction differs from Starknet’s

For Ethereum, Pectra is a step toward the full, native account abstraction that exists on Starknet.

On Starknet, account abstraction is native—every account is a smart contract by design. This enables wallet builders to provide users with advanced UX features without any special workarounds or additional infrastructure. It’s baked into the protocol itself.

In contrast, Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade (through EIP-7702) introduces account abstraction features on top of the existing EOA model. Instead of replacing EOAs with smart accounts, Pectra allows EOAs to temporarily behave like smart contracts during a transaction, enabling programmable features without permanently changing their structure. It’s a major step forward, but still a transitional model compared to Starknet’s full native abstraction.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of how the two ecosystems approach account abstraction:

Starknet vs Ethereum (Pectra) — Account abstraction at a glance

Three ways account abstraction improves user experience

AA introduces three key components: Signature abstraction, fee abstraction, and nonce abstraction. Each plays a unique role in enhancing how users interact with the blockchain.

Let’s break them down.

Signature abstraction

Signature abstraction gives developers and users control over how transactions are validated. Instead of relying on a fixed cryptographic signature, account designers can define custom rules for approving transactions. This enables advanced features like customizable account permissions and even the ability to use smartphones with face ID or a fingerprint to manage accounts more securely and intuitively, without needing to manage private keys.

Fee abstraction

Fee abstraction allows users to pay transaction fees in tokens other than the network’s native cryptocurrency. For example, instead of needing ETH to cover gas fees on Ethereum, users could pay directly in USDC or another token they already hold. This flexibility removes the need for users to convert tokens just to pay fees, saving time and effort.

Nonce abstraction

Traditional accounts require transactions to be processed one at a time, meaning users can’t send multiple independent transactions simultaneously (bad for UX). But with nonce abstraction, accounts can handle transactions more flexibly by allowing the account’s replay-protection mechanism to be customized. Users can send multiple transactions at once, such as making payments, deploying a smart contract, and participating in DeFi activities, without worrying about delays or conflicts caused by strict ordering rules.

In other words, AA’s features come with two major benefits:
For users, it means a better, more intuitive experience that simplifies how they interact with blockchain.
For developers, it eliminates the challenges of working around EOA limitations, allowing them to focus on building smarter, more flexible applications.

Account abstraction implementations on Starknet

With AA at its core, Starknet empowers developers and users alike, making smart accounts the default for every user and creating a smarter, more streamlined blockchain ecosystem that’s built to last. Builders on Starknet can build their apps and tools knowing that AA applies to all accounts, saving the need to work and service non-AA accounts.

• All accounts are smart accounts: Starknet doesn’t support EOAs, so every account is programmable, enabling custom permissions, social recovery, and advanced functionality.
  Simplified UX experience: By removing the complexities of private keys and rigid account behaviors, users get interactions that feel closer to modern apps.
• Infrastructure designed for AA: Tools like wallets and block explorers are built specifically for smart accounts, reducing development overhead and improving user experience.
• No bundlers required: Unlike ERC-4337, Starknet’s Sequencer handles transaction processing, eliminating the need for additional infrastructure layers.
• Fertile ground for growth: Developers can focus on innovation, creating dynamic apps that integrate seamlessly with other tools and services in Starknet’s ecosystem.

Starknet workshop: Account abstraction in practice

On October 29th, Starknet averaged 127 transactions per second as users flocked to Flippy Flop, Cartridge’s addictive tile-flipping game, shattering the L2 record for sustained network capacity. Flippy Flop proved to be a massive UX success as well, thanks to Starknet’s native account abstraction:

• No wallet needed: Thanks to Cartridge’s use of passkeys, users played Flippy Flop without the need for a wallet or seed phrase.
• Signatureless gameplay: Users played without having to sign a single transaction, thanks to Cartridge’s session keys.
• 0 fees: Thanks to Paymaster, users didn’t have to pay fees or bridge ETH to Starknet to play.

Flippy Flop is just one example of how Starknet’s native account abstraction changes the way we interact with blockchain.

Starknet’s seamless wallet integration allows the apps below to make the blockchain user experience simpler, smarter, and more efficient.

Braavos

Using Starknet’s native smart accounts, the Braavos team developed a smart wallet that delivers a Web2-like experience, letting users access their wallet through their mobile phone’s biometric identity feature. This is especially exciting because the cryptographic differences between most blockchains and mobile devices typically result in costly signature verification. In the future, this approach could enable signing transactions directly on mobile phones while maintaining a high level of security.

Argent

Another innovation made possible by signature abstraction is ArgentX’s guardian service, Argent-Shield. This feature adds an extra layer of account protection by allowing Argent to act as a guardian, approving transactions only after they’ve been confirmed via email. It’s a two-factor authentication mechanism that feels familiar to anyone who has used similar features in non-blockchain apps.

Visa

STARK proofs were designed to address Ethereum’s scalability challenges, with the goal of matching Visa’s transaction-per-second (TPS) capacity. That’s why Visa’s decision to explore ‘auto payments for self-custodial wallets’ on Starknet is such a significant milestone. It speaks to their recognition of Starknet’s advanced technology and innovative smart ecosystem.

And if those weren’t enough, check out the use cases and examples here:

Conclusion

Account abstraction takes blockchain accounts beyond the limits of the EOA model. Instead of relying entirely on private keys, accounts become programmable, with features like automated recovery, better security, and built-in flexibility. This makes using blockchain feel easier and more modern, removing the headaches of managing private keys while opening the door to smarter, more personalized interactions.

On Starknet, account abstraction is built in from the ground up. Every account is a smart account, so developers can skip the workarounds needed to support outdated systems. This lets them focus on building apps that are seamless, secure, and designed for the future. With native AA, Starknet is creating an ecosystem where blockchain feels as smooth and adaptable as it should.

Explore our dApps in Starknet’s ecosystem