Smart Wallets

The problems they solve and how

Let's start with the problem first!

Web3 wallets are a user's key to the blockchain — but the user experience for most wallets today isn't great, and it poses one of the greatest obstacles to mass adoption.

For a new user to interact with the blockchain, they must: create a wallet, store their private keys, purchase & transfer funds, pay gas fees, and sign every single action that they take on a dApp. With such an intimidating user experience for newcomers, something must change.

Enter Smart Wallets (ERC-4337)

Smart wallets are wallets that are controlled by a smart contract which has the following key benefits

1. Improved user experience:

   • Eliminates the need to manage private keys, making it easier and safer for users to interact with Web3.

   • Enable gasless transactions for your users.

   • Enable batched transactions, preventing users from having to approve every single transaction.

2. Enhanced security:

   • Reduces the risk of losing funds due to private key theft.

   • Smart contracts can be programmed with additional security features like account locking and recovery.

   • Provides multi-sig capabilities, requiring multiple signatures on a transaction, before it's executed

3. Automation of transactions:

   Enables self-executing transactions when certain defined conditions are met like approving a predefined number of tokens to an entity based on fixed time intervals, stop loss and take profit orders, recurring subscriptions, etc.

They follow ERC-4337, a new ‘account abstraction’ standard that unlocks the power of smart contract wallets, or ‘smart accounts,’ on the Ethereum blockchain (and EVM-compatible networks). ERC-4337 is one of the biggest upgrades to the way web3 wallets work, creating an infinitely smoother experience for users, regardless of web3 knowledge, through smart accounts.

Overall, account abstraction is a powerful technology with Smart wallets using it, they have the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with blockchains. It offers a wide range of benefits, including improved user experience, enhanced security, and increased flexibility. While there are still challenges to overcome, account abstraction is likely to play a major role in the future of Web3.

How it works:

1. The users will have to power their smart wallet account with an Externally Owned Account (EOA) account like Metamask or embedded wallets.

2. A smart account factory is deployed and is used to create smart wallet accounts for your users.

3. The smart account factory contract will deploy a new instance of the smart wallet contract along with a bunch of other contracts, to enable features like:

   1. Social Account Locking
   2. Social Account Recovery
   3. Guardian Management

   for your users.

For more details, check out:

• Guardian Smart Wallet Architecture and contracts
• Account Abstraction (ERC 4337)