Smart Wallet Use Rises With 11,000 Ethereum EIP-7702 Authorizations a Week After Pectra Update
Ethereum’s Pectra Upgrade Ignites Smart Wallet Functionality with Rapid EIP-7702 Uptake
A significant surge in smart wallet capabilities on the Ethereum network has been observed, directly following the implementation of the Pectra upgrade.
Within merely one week of Pectra’s introduction, authorizations for EIP-7702 surpassed 11,000, signaling a strong and enthusiastic reception from both digital wallet providers and decentralized applications (apps).
This particular Ethereum Improvement Proposal, EIP-7702, facilitates a mechanism for temporary delegation of control from standard Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to smart contract accounts.
EIP-7702: Bridging EOAs and Smart Contract Capabilities
Going live on the Ethereum mainnet around May 6th as an integral part of the Pectra enhancements, EIP-7702 allows traditional Ethereum addresses, those managed by private keys, to temporarily assign their functionalities to smart contract accounts.
This innovation empowers users of EOAs to access sophisticated features typically associated with smart contract wallets, without the necessity of a complete migration to a new, fully smart contract-based wallet system.
After the Pectra upgrade, regular EOA wallets can now authorize a designated smart contract to operate on their behalf through a “delegation indicator,” which points to the authorized contract.
When a transaction is directed to an EOA configured in this manner, the Ethereum network executes the code of the delegated smart contract instead of processing the transaction with standard EOA logic.
Crucially, this delegation is revocable, ensuring users retain ultimate control over their EOA and can withdraw the smart contract’s authority as needed.
Enhanced User Experience through Smart Account Features
The advantages conferred by these newly enhanced smart accounts are considerable.
They can incorporate programmed functionalities such as batched transactions, allowing users to execute multiple operations, for example, an approval followed by a swap on a decentralized exchange (DEX), within a single, consolidated transaction.
Furthermore, smart accounts can implement advanced features like multi-signature authentication, customizable spending limits, or automated transaction scheduling.
An additional benefit for users is the potential to engage in transactions without directly covering gas fees with ether.
Early Adoption Metrics Reveal Strong Market Interest
Data compiled by Entropy Advisors from Dune Analytics, following the rollout of this feature, reveals notable early adoption patterns.
The crypto platform WhiteBIT, for example, managed a delegate contract that garnered 5,300 authorizations, constituting almost half of the total recorded in the initial week.
It is speculated that WhiteBIT is leveraging this delegate contract to streamline on-chain user interactions, potentially for features including bundled transactions, gas fee sponsorship, or a more efficient user onboarding experience.
Among digital wallet providers, OKX’s wallet has emerged as a frontrunner, securing over 3,100 authorizations and significantly outperforming its competitors in this initial phase.
MetaMask, widely recognized as the most popular crypto wallet, has registered approximately 1,300 delegations.
Interestingly, despite fewer delegations, MetaMask’s delegate contracts hold a greater volume of ETH compared to those associated with OKX, suggesting that MetaMask users engaging with this feature may be conducting higher-value transactions or possess larger account balances.
Broader Implications of the Pectra Upgrade
The Pectra upgrade itself incorporates a suite of Ethereum Improvement Proposals, with EIP-7702 being particularly prominent due to its direct contributions to enhancing the user experience.
Beyond EIP-7702, the Pectra upgrade also delivered improvements to Ethereum validator operations and advanced Layer 2 blob scaling capabilities.
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