EIP 3074 is confirmed for the next Ethereum update, called Pectra. This proposal will enable Ethereum addresses to take on certain functionalities hitherto reserved for smart contracts, with a view to making life easier for users of wallets such as MetaMask.
EIP 3074 confirmed for next Ethereum update
Tim Beiko, one of the core developers of the Ethereum blockchain, has confirmed on X that the Pectra update will contain Ethereum Improvement Proposals (EIPs) 2935 and 3074. Pectra, which follows on from the Dencun update rolled out last month, will enable users of wallets such as MetaMask to obtain features previously reserved for smart contracts.
First introduced in October 2020, EIP 3074 aims to enable EOAs (for externally owned accounts, i.e. Ethereum accounts operating with a private key, like a wallet) to “transform” into smart contracts via 2 new functions (opcodes) “AUTH” and “AUTHCALL”.
In broad terms, this EIP should greatly enhance the user experience, in particular by making it possible to approve several transactions at once.
For example, with EIP 3074, it will be possible both to authorize a decentralized exchange (DEX) to use your tokens for a swap, and to carry out this swap in the same transaction, saving time and money.
According to 0xngmi, developer for the DefiLlama platform, however, such possibilities put users’ entire wallets at risk for a single bad signature.
downside of EIP 3074 is that now it’ll be possible to fully drain an address (all tokens, all nfts, all defi positions…) with only one bad signature
– 0xngmi (@0xngmi) April 11, 2024
Hayden Adams, founder of DEX Uniswap, for his part responded that the upside would be that wallet providers would be forced “to improve the UX on this, so that more actions are recognized as explicitly safe and the unknown and arbitrary elements are made super scary/risky.” In plain English, so that users can more simply understand what they’re signing via their wallet.
MetaMask co-founder Dan Finlay was keen to reassure, however, assuring that he knew of “no mainstream wallets today that are vulnerable to this,” adding that “this was an early research audit task. “
On the other hand, EIP 3074 will also enhance the security of certain wallets. For example, users will be able to store cryptocurrencies on wallet A by paying transaction fees from wallet B. It will also be possible to regain access to a wallet whose private key has been mislaid.
EIP 3074 is not to be confused with account abstraction, although its operation is similar. The account abstraction for Ethereum was formalized last month as EIP 4337.
