If you've spent time exploring Ethereum or crypto communities lately, you've probably encountered the term "account abstraction." It might sound technical, but the concept is simpler—and more powerful—than you might think.
Understanding Today's Ethereum Wallets
Before we dive down the rabbit hole, we need to first understand how Ethereum wallets work. Traditionally, Ethereum has two primary account types: Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs), controlled by private keys, and Contract Accounts, controlled by their embedded smart contract code. EOAs initiate transactions by signing with private keys, while Contract Accounts execute predefined operations automatically upon receiving transactions. To send a transaction, you need ETH to cover gas fees, and you’ve got to sign off on every little action—like approving a spend or sending crypto. It’s a lot to handle, and it can feel pretty intimidating, especially if you’re new to the space.
History and Origin of Account Abstraction
The learning curve for using dApps on Ethereum was so steep that the community started brainstorming ways to make things smoother. That’s where account abstraction comes in. The idea traces back to Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s co-founder, who pitched it around 2015 to boost wallet usability and security. Early discussions sparked plenty of excitement, but the tech was so complex that it took years to get off the ground.
In March 2023, Ethereum took a significant step toward account abstraction with Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4337, led by developer Yoav Weiss and others. EIP-4337 introduced advanced wallet features such as gasless transactions, using ERC-20 tokens to pay gas fee, and new signature methods beyond traditional ECDSA signatures. Most importantly, these improvements didn't require any changes to Ethereum at the protocol level, making it easier and safer to adopt. Nekodex leverages this framework by enabling users to sign transactions with passkeys, bypassing the need for an EOA and significantly enhancing the user experience.
However, despite its promise, EIP-4337 struggled to get widespread adoption. One major challenge was its dependence on external, off-chain infrastructure components—like bundlers and paymasters—to function effectively.
Recognizing these adoption hurdles, Ethereum developers introduced EIP-7702 later in 2023 as an improved solution. Unlike EIP-4337, EIP-7702 allowed existing Ethereum wallets to directly utilize smart account features without external dependencies. Your regular wallet (like MetaMask) could now temporarily act like a smart contract wallet, making it easier for everyone to benefit from advanced features like transaction batching, relayed transactions, and sponsored gas fees—all built directly into Ethereum’s core. This means dApps will become 10x easier for average users. The best part? Users don't have to migrate or change anything —simply continue using their existing wallets to enjoy the much improved UX without extra steps.
EIP-7702 will be launched as part of Ethereum’s exciting Pectra upgrade in 2025. This major upgrade merges two significant updates—Prague and Electra—and is scheduled to go live on Ethereum’s mainnet between mid-March and early April 2025.
Account Abstraction in Action: Nekodex
Nekodex is one of the earliest team to adopt account abstraction and chain abstraction into its mobile trading app. Unlike a typical DEX, which often requires its user to have a decent understanding of Ethereum's complexities, Nekodex is able to offer an experience for beginners to buy crypto on-chain with just a few taps, literally. Users don’t need a pre-existing wallet, a seed phrase to write down, or knowing what gas fees are. There’s no unnecessary signatures—just a few taps, and you’re done.
The Typical DEX Journey
Take out your laptop because most DEXes are unusable on mobile
Download a wallet, such as MetaMask
Create a new wallet and carefully save your seed phrase
Create an account on centralized exchange, like Coinbase, and send your ID for KYC
Buy USDC on Coinbase and send it to
MetaMask on Ethereum
Go to a DEX, find AIXBT, place the trade
a warning pop-ups "Not enough ETH to pay gas fee"
Go back to Coinbase, buy ETH, and send it to MetaMask
Go back to DEX, find AIXBT, place the trade
Sign to approve spending
Sign again to approve the swap
Done—finally!
The Nekodex Journey
Visit app.nekodex.org
visit create an account with your face ID
buy USDC with Apple Pay
buy AIXBT with 1 click
Done—no seed phrases, no gas fees, no complex steps
In contrast, Nekodex provides an experience that's dramatically simpler and can even be completed right from your phone, without any complicated setups.
No exaggeration—it’s really that easy. Skeptical? Check out the app here and see for yourself!