ERC-4337 vs EIP-7702 | Pimlico Docs
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ERC-4337 vs EIP-7702

This page outlines the key differences and design motivations behind ERC-4337 and EIP-7702 — two distinct approaches to improving smart accounts (also known as "account abstraction") on Ethereum.

TL;DR

  • ERC-4337: Defines a standard interface for smart accounts that allows them to plug into standard relayers (bundlers) and paymasters such as Pimlico. No protocol upgrades required.
  • EIP-7702: Allows EOAs to become smart accounts. Requires a protocol upgrade.

Importantly, ERC-4337 and EIP-7702 are not competing proposals. You can use both together, allowing EOAs to become smart accounts while also plugging into standard relayers and paymasters.

Given that ERC-4337 is already live and has a large ecosystem, it is the de-facto standard for smart account relaying and gas sponsoring today and is expected to be the main way that most smart accounts with EIP-7702 will also be used.

ERC-4337 Overview

  • Timeline: Proposal finalized in March 2023, latest EntryPoint contract deployed in April 2025.
  • Requires a Protocol Upgrade: No
  • Mechanism: Standardizes the bundler and paymaster interface, introduces an EntryPoint contract to handle smart account transaction flows.
  • Key Concepts: User Operations, bundlers, paymasters

Pros

  • No hard fork needed
  • Modular and extensible design (plug-in paymasters, validation logic, etc.)
  • Ecosystem already building on it (e.g., Pimlico, Safe, Stackup)

Cons

  • Complex architecture (bundlers, extra calldata)

EIP-7702 Overview

  • Timeline: Expected to be included in the Pectra hardfork, on May 7, 2025.
  • Requires a Protocol Upgrade: Yes
  • Mechanism: Turns an EOA into a contract account during via a new transaction type.
  • Key Concepts: authorization_list

Pros

  • Clean UX: complexity is in the protocol
  • Reuses existing transaction flow (no separate mempool or entry point)

Cons

  • Requires hard fork and client changes
  • Not all chains will have it live at the same time — backwards compatibility will be required.
  • Master EOA retains ability to control and change the code of the smart account, true multisig / social recovery is not possible