Visa tests Ethereum Account Abstraction and ERC-4337 for crypto payments using two Paymaster contracts on the Goerli testnet.
Visa, a major payments company, is actively exploring digital asset payments and innovative technologies to make crypto transactions easier and more seamless. After studying Account Abstraction for secure automatic recurring payments on self-custodial wallets, Visa is now focusing on how gas fees can be improved using Account Abstraction on the Ethereum blockchain.
Visa Explores Ethereum’s Account Abstraction for Crypto Payments:
Visa is researching Ethereum’s account abstraction and proposal ERC-4337 to improve digital payments, as mentioned in a recent article titled “Rethinking Digital Transactions with Account Abstraction.”
Visa has implemented two sets of Paymaster contracts on the Ethereum Goerli testnet to demonstrate the potential for redesigning gas fees for a more user-friendly experience. With the help of ERC-4337, owners can now directly own smart contract accounts. Overall, Account Abstraction and compatibility with the Ethereum Virtual Machine bring several benefits to end users.
ERC-4337 Transaction Flow. Source: Visa
Guy Sheffield, who leads Visa’s crypto division, announced on Twitter that they have successfully launched the first paymaster smart contract on the Ethereum testnet.
Excited to see Visa deploy our first paymaster smart contract on testnet as we continue to research and experiment with account abstraction and ERC-4337https://t.co/JJNWH2W2Ki https://t.co/RLRDx4yPXS
— Cuy Sheffield (@cuysheffield) May 17, 2023
According to blockchain expert Cygaar, the Visa team developed a paymaster contract that retrieves the ETH exchange rate for the ERC20 token (L110) and transfers the corresponding amount of ERC20 tokens to itself (L112). In another experiment, a paymaster contract was created to fully cover the gas fees for user transactions.
According to Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, the implementation of gas fees Account Abstraction is something that the Ethereum developer community has always desired. It has been a long-standing dream within the community.
Vitalik Buterin suggests that crypto investors should consider using social recovery wallets and multi-signature wallets to securely manage their cryptocurrency funds on their own.
With the introduction of ERC-4337 account abstraction and the upcoming smart contract wallet called Soul Wallet, the security of wallets will be enhanced. Vitalik Buterin suggests using social recovery for hot wallets, which hold a small portion of funds for individuals or organizations, and utilizing multisignature (multisig) wallets for cold wallets, where larger savings are stored, to ensure better protection.
This information is for general knowledge only and should not be considered as advice for investing or making financial decisions.
