What is a smart account
To execute actions in crypto, you need an account. This is what MetaMask is for—your permissions and identity manager that helps you grant access to apps easily.
Smart accounts grant you enhanced capabilities. This feature is automatically enabled, giving you faster transactions, lower or sponsored network fees and payment flexibility. You can manage this within your settings.
MetaMask has an ambitious roadmap to make these accounts the norm. We want to enable you to define your own terms, express your agency in enforceable ways, and generally have your wallet work in your favor.
Smart accounts are now auto-enabled for new MetaMask users. This feature grants you enhanced capabilities like faster transactions, lower or sponsored network fees and payment flexibility. Learn more about managing your smart account settings here.
Types of crypto accounts:
There are 2 account types when you think of “wallets”:
- EOAs (Externally Owned Accounts): These are standard accounts controlled by private keys. Think MetaMask, Ledger, Rabby, where you custody a 12-word phrase.
- SCAs (Smart Contract Accounts): These are programmable accounts powered by a smart contract. They are a newer, more customizable account type that lets you do way more than a traditional EOA.
EOAs—or standard accounts—are what most people use. We’ve become familiar with custodying a Secret Recovery Phrase (SRP), initiating transactions, and accruing reputation to our accounts but this type of account is limited in capabilities and security models compared to smart accounts.
Smart account adoption has been slower in part because it requires new account management knowledge, security models, and permissions standards and also because it historically didn’t meet most users where they were at.
But today, tech upgrades and account enhancements make important functionality possible even to those of us using standard accounts like MetaMask, making it smart-ish, i.e., granting EOAs smart contract capabilities while maintaining the basic public/private key account nature.
Smart accounts, or programmable accounts, are what all crypto wallets are moving toward.
But let’s rewind a bit, what exactly can smart accounts unlock?
Benefits of smart accounts
- Transaction batching: Combining several steps (like approving and swapping a token) into one, saving fees and time.
- Gas abstraction: Paying for gas in any token you want (example: DAI instead of ETH if you ran out) and maybe even removing the friction of paying for gas yourself if someone wants to “sponsor” it for you.
- Subscriptions: Approving specific tokens to specific dapps at specific times. Just set it once and forget it.
- Limit orders: Purchasing parameters! How convenient would it be to set your own trading rules? (example: If ETH hits $1500 (cry), buy 1 ETH).
- Multisig: Approving a transaction requires multiple signers in order for it to execute, adding friction to moving funds. This is safer as your account doesn’t have a single point of failure when it comes to scams.
- Social recovery: Social recovery allows trusted guardians to recover your account for you if your SRP is lost or stolen.
- Auto-approvals: Granting access to a specific dapp for a set time or amount means you don’t need to manually confirm transactions every single time.
These are some general benefits smart accounts have. These features are not all available in MetaMask yet. Keeping your wallet smart account-ready will allow you to benefit from these features when available.
How are smart accounts possible?
The crypto wallet space has greatly evolved since MetaMask was introduced in 2016, and will continue to do so. New EIPs (Ethereum Improvement Proposals) have been put forth, debated, and agreed upon; new wallet applications have grown to support all kinds of use cases; new standards are being implemented to make transacting on web3 easier, safer, and more efficient.
MetaMask has been thinking about how to give our users more flexibility and scalability in tandem with the Ethereum community since, well, forever.
Smart accounts are possible thanks to the culmination of various EIPs, ERCs and powerful open-ended permissions systems. This has been years in the making, and we’re excited to build and support the new wave of account management.
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MetaMask Delegation Framework: Unlike traditional wallets, which rely on private keys for every transaction, MetaMask delegator “gator” accounts use ERC-4337 smart contracts to govern account logic.
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EIP-7702: This allows EOAs to inherit some smart account functionality like atomic batched transactions and pay for gas in any token you want.
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ERC-7710: This proposes a standard interface for smart accounts to grant permissions, enhancing flexibility and scalability.
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ERC-7715: This defines an interface by which apps might ask for permission from your account, reducing the need for manual transaction approvals and enabling transactions even when you’re offline.
Thanks, devs. ❤️
If you're a dev and want to learn more about building new experiences based on programmable account behavior and granular permission sharing, check out the smart accounts docs here.
What are MetaMask smart accounts?
MetaMask can grant your account enhanced capabilities through the smart account feature. Your funds don’t move and your account(s) are still governed by your SRP/private keys. You STILL need to keep this safe, as always.
Keeping your wallet smart account-ready will allow you to benefit from features like batching transactions, paying for gas in any token, and more.
You’ll use your account as you normally have in the past; it’s just more superpowered now.
How do smart accounts work?
Switching to a smart account simply points your basic account (example: metamask.eth, governed by the SRP) to a specific MetaMask smart contract that will perform enhanced functions for you, thereby granting you some “smart account” benefits without migrating your funds or changing your address. It still remains an EOA.
Think of it like a diligent robot working in your favor that you can fire and rehire at any time. The robot is programmed to do your bidding. It cannot control your standard account funds, but it can spend certain amounts on your behalf if you allow it to. You still have the key (SRP) that fully controls the account.
You will be prompted to “switch to a smart account” within MetaMask directly when prompted by a dapp or network that supports the permission standards. (example: Uniswap batching an approve+swap transaction request).
MetaMask Delegator smart contract
Upgrading or switching your account to a “smart account” points your existing EOA to a MetaMask Delegator smart contract (0x63c0c19a282a1b52b07dd5a65b58948a07dae32b) that can perform functionalities like batching transactions, paying for gas in any token, and more.