Blockchain Account Abstraction (AA) study notes for non-technical people

Author: AmberBella.eth, Web3 Evangelist Source: X (original Twitter) @0xAmberBella

I have heard a saying that accounts are the last piece of the puzzle for the large-scale application of blockchain. Whether this statement is accurate or not is open to debate, but Account Abstraction (AA) is indeed an interesting topic.

As we all know, I have no technical background at all, so I consulted @nake13 for a while, and then wrote this study note from a non-technical perspective, and extracted 4 parts that I think are important. On the one hand, this is part of my use of the Feynman learning method. On the other hand, I hope this will be helpful for friends who have no technical background like me to understand blockchain accounts (AA), wallets and account abstractions ~ (I have Double checked for accuracy of understanding)

1. Origin

• Solve the problem that the Contract Account (CA) has no initiative.

• Previously, contract accounts could not initiate transfers. This problem is because the Ethereum protocol logically limits the initiative of contract accounts. This is also a design flaw that Vitalik, the founder of Ethereum, did not consider at the beginning.

• Following the principle of not changing the underlying protocol, Account Abstraction (AA) has become one of the ways to solve this problem, and it currently seems to be one of the most feasible solutions.

**How to understand? **

It can be understood as a programmable wallet (Programmable Wallet), or it can be understood as unlocking the contract account that was previously fixed in the agreement through AA, making it modular (turning it into a programmable smart contract).

2. Understand the relationship between EOA, AA and EOA

Current wallets are mainly divided into External Owned Account (EOA) and Contract Account (CA).

• Externally Owned Account (EOA): The private key is not something in the underlying contract layer of Ethereum.

• Relationship with Externally Owned Accounts (EOA): After Account Abstraction (AA) turns the wallet into a smart contract, it can contain the logic of Externally Owned Accounts (EOA).

3. Current problems faced by AA

• Although the standard proposal EIP-4337 (AA standard) has improved the usability of AA, there are still problems of different standards and mutual incompatibility, and it will take several years to build a consensus.

• Gas fees are high because more computing power is required to process smart contracts.

• Bundler can solve some of the problems of high gas fees, but it may also cause censorship issues (because the bundle service has a smaller number of miners and is easier to locate, which may involve risks such as personal safety).

• The commercialization model is still uncertain. Possible paths include paying gas fees, providing advanced services and transaction fees, etc.

4. Blockchain wallet logic and understanding of private keys

The logic of the wallet is based on cryptography. The private key is just a way of verification and signature. Generally, retail users use externally owned accounts (EOA), which are common wallets. There are many encryption methods that do not require the use of externally owned accounts (EOA). Private key mode.

Hope this helps you understand the concept of Account Abstraction (AA)!