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In March 2023, at ETHDenver, the largest Ethereum annual conference in North America, Yoav Weiss, a security researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, announced the launch of a new smart contract on Ethereum called EntryPoint. EntryPoint is designed to validate and execute transactions within "Account Contracts" (AC). AC is an Ethereum account through which users can write new logic to authorize transactions. The logic must be constructed using specific fields and types defined by the ERC 4337 standard. User transactions formatted with complex execution logic are referred to as "User Operations." Once formatted, User Operations can be sent to a memory pool specifically designated for these types of transactions.
Here is a high-level description of the transaction execution process defined by ERC 4337 for UserOperations.
Once a UserOperation is submitted to the designated ERC 4337 mempool or an alternative mempool that accepts UserOperations, it is picked up by "Bundlers." Bundlers function similarly to block builders. They bundle multiple User Operations together and submit the package for verification and execution on Ethereum. By simulating transactions and bundling them for on-chain execution, bundlers are compensated with fees attached by the users submitting the UserOperation.
UserOperations can specify "paymasters." Paymasters are participants who sponsor UserOperations for other users, allowing for some new functionalities on Ethereum, including:
- Users paying transaction fees with cryptocurrencies other than ETH.
- Decentralized applications providing fee subsidies for their users in the early stages.
- Creating on-chain credit services for transactions on Ethereum. |
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