Ethereum Account Abstraction (AA) or ERC-4337

Today we talk about the #Ethereum Account Abstraction (AA) or ERC-4337 proposal that has been created in 2021. It was approved and announced a few days ago at the #ETHDenver event. So what is it and why it matters?

AA allows us to customize our accounts on Ethereum instead of using predefined account types.

In simple words, this lets us create "Smart Accounts" on the blockchain. The main benefit of this is that it can make Ethereum more user-friendly and accessible (ADOPTION).

Use cases

Wallet recovery (one of the most important for adoption). Web2-like wallet recovery options (social recovery, and other simple things similar to banking without having to believe the bank) instead of writing down and storing 12–24 words.

Custom pay limits and 2FA. It allows us to set spending limits and enable 2FA for transactions above a certain amount.

Automated payments. Soon, the payment for different Web2 subscriptions by crypto will become easier.

Also:

Multiple txs in the same one.

Pre-approved txs for a certain time period.

Gasless / Sponsored Transaction / Pay for gas not only in ETH

Useful links: Original VitalikButerin proposal - https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4337

The largest annual blockchain conference in the world, which had record attendance this year, has aspirations to expand beyond Denver.

The number of attendees at #ETHDenver increased by more than 50% this year as an estimated 15,000 people from 115 different countries gathered to talk about the future of #Web3 and #crypto innovation.

Everyone interested is welcome to attend the event, which is 100% community-funded and organized by blockchain businesses.

John Paller, ETHDenver founder, told Blockworks:

“This year’s #BUIDLathon winners give a great look at the future of the crypto ecosystem, with strong projects across regenerative finance, #NFT marketplaces and infrastructure demonstrating just how many interesting new are moving the industry forward.”

The hackathon attracted over 6,000 developers, and close to 400 applications were submitted for evaluation. 18 candidates received awards totaling about $100,000.

Developers were furthermore given over $1 million in rewards. 180 bounties were given by 62 sponsors this year.

If this year's event was a success, the organizers want to expand it internationally and draw more developers and interested parties to the area.

“From the incredible speakers to the immensely creative project winners, it’s invigorating to see what this community is accomplishing year in and year out at ETHDenver and beyond,”

Paller continued:

“We are hopeful that 2024 will bring new opportunities and locations to expand access worldwide.”

Both #Bitcoin  and ether are starting the week off flat, with the world’s largest digital asset at $22,463, up 0.6% on-day, and ether at $1,569, up 0.1%.

Observers say that the market is at something of a precipice right now. While it’s no longer the depths of #crypto2023  winter, the market has to decide how much it will continue to price in Silvergate’s crypto failure while also accounting for positive economic data from China.

“It doesn't look like the Silvergate issue is leading to broad contagion. And we may have seen most of the drop associated with that news already,” Matt Weller, Forex.com’s global head of research, told CoinDesk TV on Friday. “I wouldn't be surprised to see bitcoin retrace back down to $20,000, maybe even $18,000, to sort of retest those lows. But…it does look like the depths of the winter are behind us.”

At the same time, economic data from a re-opened #China , which rapidly dropped all Covid restrictions at the start of the year, might bolster the “China narrative” that fueled late February’s mini price rally. This coming week is set to be a busy one with economic data releases from the country, with Balance of Trade, foreign exchange reserves, and inflation-rate data expected.

“China’s opening is a positive factor for the world’s economy, which infers that certain Animal spirits are back in Asia,” said March Zheng, the co-founder and managing partner of Bizantine Capital, in a note to CoinDesk.

These so-called animal spirits, Zheng said, could lead to an increase in appetite for assets like crypto.

“We are of the view that it will counterbalance the continued, persistent fears in the U.S. equity markets as well as rising rates,” he said.

Insights

EthDenver shows that Ethereum has an actual community

This weekend marks the culmination of #ETHDenver , probably the most important annual gathering for smart contract and decentralized finance (DeFi) developers right now, on Ethereum and beyond. I wish I could be there this year, but I’m still recovering from a pretty intense four months of making cool things and exposing bad guys.

Fortunately, plenty of people are sharing clips from the event, so I can enjoy it vicariously. Unfortunately, many of these posts express something between innocent confusion and sneering takedowns of the supposedly lame ETHDenver goings-on.

But that attitude, to paraphrase the fugitive philosopher-thief Do Kwon, is a great formula for getting rekt. It may look like silliness and disorganization to you, but ETHDenver’s rough edges are actually strong signals that a real community has been drawn together by shared interests to build something together from the ground up. That’s the kind of community that has and will weather slow periods of crypto growth like what we’re going through right now.

It’s hip to be cringe

It’s true that compared to a lot of crypto conferences ETHDenver and certain related events can seem just the slightest bit slapdash, and more than the slightest bit bizarre. Take, for instance, the annual contributions from Jonathan Mann, aka “The Song a Day Guy.” He has created and performed goofy, slightly amateurish tunes for the event for a while now – and every year people on Twitter take the opportunity to dunk on him.

When I attended last year, ETHDenver was held in a refurbished parking garage, where the bathrooms were partly or entirely broken for much of the event. You couldn’t see the main stage from roughly a third of the ground floor seating, and people talking at the back of the room halfway drowned out the speakers. Every once in a while, someone would drop 500 pizzas on an upstairs table, resulting in massive queues that made it nearly impossible to move.