What ERC-7779 means for Ethereum’s future

With Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin claiming sole ownership of the Ethereum Foundation and speculation surrounding the Trump family building “giant businesses” on Ethereum, the network has been a hot topic of discussion in the crypto community recently.

In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, members of the Ethereum Foundation, Trust Wallet, Safe, Alchemy and Rhinestone discussed the new ERC-7779 token standard and its impact on the Ethereum ecosystem.

ERC-7779 aims to build on the advancements of previous Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) like EIP-7702, which introduced execution abstraction for Ethereum accounts and allowed the creation of externally owned accounts (EOAs).

The new standard aims to address challenges associated with Ethereum’s evolving account systems, introducing a unified framework for enhanced interoperability, secure wallet transitions and simplified storage management.

Related: Vitalik claims sole authority over Ethereum Foundation leadership

ERC-7779: Purpose and application

ERC-7779 builds on advancements introduced in Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs), such as EIP-7702, which enabled externally owned accounts (EOAs) to function more like smart accounts.

Richard Meissner, co-founder of Safe, told Cointelegraph that the importance of the new token standard lies in its ability to ensure that smart accounts remain interoperable.

“Smart accounts bring a lot of benefits. One of them is the possibility for upgradeable logic. With EIP-7702 in the upcoming Pectra Upgrade this now also is extended to EOAs,” he said. 

Marissa Posnor, product manager at the Ethereum Foundation, explained the need for ERC-7779, noting its role in creating a standardized interface for managing delegated EOAs and supporting redelegation securely:

“ERC-7779 addresses these challenges by defining a standard interface for delegated EOAs to manage storage bases and support redelegation securely and efficiently.”

“The timing is critical as Ethereum’s ecosystem expands and user expectations around wallet features and interoperability grow. Additionally, ERC-7779 is not exclusive to EIP-7702; it provides value to smart accounts outside of 7702 as well,“ she added.

Related: Ethereum fee earnings rise in 2024 despite cost-saving Dencun upgrade: CoinGecko

Simplifying UX through ERC-7779

The new token standard also aims to simplify wallet migrations for non-technical users, allowing them to move between wallets without technical barriers or losing access to assets.

David Kim, tech lead at Trust Wallet, said ERC-7779 “strikes an effective balance” to create a standard that is “genuinely helpful and easy for wallet developers to adopt.”

Konrad Kopp, co-founder at Rhinestone, said that the new token standard “does not simplify the user experience for end-users” but instead gives EOA users the option to securely switch between smart account implementations.

Related: Trump family may build ‘giant businesses’ on Ethereum — Lubin

Use cases and developer adoption

Beyond its primary objective of establishing greater interoperability, ERC-7779 aims to make advanced features like transaction batching, automation and gas abstraction more accessible.

Fangting Liu, tech lead at Alchemy, told Cointelegraph that the collaboration on the new token standard is “easily adoptable” across the ecosystem, allowing developers to access and verify information across smart account implementations.

“ERC-7779 introduces a solution to mitigate risks associated with improper storage management in smart account implementations,” Liu said. “It empowers developers and users to safely transition between implementations as their needs evolve, ensuring a more secure and flexible environment.“

These developments could function as a turning point for the Ethereum ecosystem, enabling users to access advanced capabilities within a more secure framework and make “smart accounts superpowers go mainstream,” Meissner said. 

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