Why Ethereum’s Next Upgrade Includes EIP-3074—And How It Differs from ERC-4337

Introduction

After 3+ years of development, EIP-3074 has gained overwhelming support from Ethereum’s community and will be included in the network’s next hard fork. Proposed by researchers like Sam Wilson and Go Ethereum developer Matt Garnett, this upgrade enables External Owned Accounts (EOAs) to function like smart contract wallets—no migration or additional contracts required. As Paradigm CTO Georgios Konstantopoulos noted: "Wallet UX will improve 10x." But how does it work? And what sets it apart from ERC-4337?

EIP-3074: A Low-Level EVM Upgrade

Core Components

EOAs (e.g., MetaMask wallets) gain smart contract capabilities through two new EVM opcodes:

AUTH: Validates ECDSA signatures and sets an authorized context variable if the signer matches the specified address.
AUTHCALL: Executes calls using the EOA’s address (via prior AUTH) instead of the contract’s address.

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Workflow

User signs an authorization message.
An "Invoker" smart contract verifies the signature via AUTH.
The contract uses AUTHCALL to submit transactions on behalf of the EOA.
Results are returned to the user—all without exposing private keys.

EIP-3074 vs. ERC-4337: Key Differences

Feature	EIP-3074	ERC-4337
Implementation	EVM-level (requires hard fork)	Protocol-level (no fork needed)
Primary Goal	EOAs mimic smart contracts	Smart contracts mimic EOAs
Account Type	Remains EOA (no abstraction)	Fully abstracted smart accounts
Recovery Options	Limited (unless custom contract)	Built-in social recovery

Why This Upgrade Matters

Cross-Chain Efficiency

ERC-4337 adoption requires per-chain development effort.
EIP-7377 migration demands manual user transactions.
EIP-3074 works universally—no migration needed.

Use Case Enhancements

DeFi: Batch transactions reduce LP/trader costs. Sponsor-paid gas lowers entry barriers.
Omnichain Gaming: Invokers handle transactions post-user authorization, streamlining gameplay.

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Potential Risks

State Predictability: Sponsored transactions may complicate state validation for nodes.
Security Exposure: Invoker contracts become single points of failure—compromised invokers risk user funds.

FAQs

Q: Can EIP-3074 wallets recover lost keys?
A: No—unless paired with a custom recovery contract (unlike ERC-4337’s native account abstraction).

Q: Will this replace ERC-4337?
A: Unlikely. They serve complementary purposes: EIP-3074 upgrades EOAs; ERC-4337 abstracts smart accounts.

Q: When does this go live?
A: Post-final testing, during Ethereum’s next hard fork (date TBD).

Keywords: Ethereum upgrade, EIP-3074, ERC-4337, account abstraction, smart contract wallets, EVM opcodes, batch transactions, sponsored gas


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