Hi everyone, I’m Jason Cui from imToken Labs. I’m really glad to be here today to talk about how account abstraction unlocks new applications.
Today’s talk is divided into four parts. First, I’ll explain what account abstraction actually is. And then, we’ll walk through some exciting new applications unlocked by its three key components — verification, execution, and gas abstraction.
So, what exactly is account abstraction?
To answer that, let’s take a step back and see what a blockchain account really is. A blockchain account is the interface between the user and the blockchain. It tells us three things: who can use the account — that’s account verification,what the account can do — that’s account execution,and how gas is paid — that’s fee payment.
Traditionally, users interact with the blockchain through EOAs. These accounts are quite limited — they rely on a fixed verification method (usually ECDSA signatures), can only be triggered directly by the user to call a single method on a single contract, and always require gas fees to be paid upfront in ETH.
But account abstraction changes the game. It allows for programmable verification, supports both self-executed and externally triggered transactions across multiple methods on multiple contracts, and enables fee payment — you can pay before or after execution, and using custom tokens, or even completely free if sponsored. This added flexibility unlocks a wide range of innovative applications.
Let’s start by looking at some use cases of Verification Abstraction — it allows us to rethink how we prove ownership of an account.
Instead of relying solely on ECDSA private keys, we can now use passkeys, which offer a similar level of security as hardware wallets, but with better user experience and no need to manage seed phrases.
We can also imagine accounts being controlled through email. Since email is widely integrated into Web2 services, using it to manage accounts could make onboarding much easier and help bridge the gap between Web2 and Web3.
Furthermore, we might even see AI agents have their own accounts — not just making them more decentralized, but turning them into fully independent digital entities that can manage assets and interact with the blockchain by themself.
Verification abstraction also enables more flexible permissions. Instead of giving full access all the time, users can now grant limited or temporary access to applications using session keys or sub-accounts. It allows applications to act on behalf of users for certain tasks, without needing approval for every single transaction — which is especially helpful in on-chain games or automated DeFi, where too many prompts would ruin the experience.
Another powerful feature is account recovery. Since the verification logic is programmable, developers can build in ways to recover accounts if keys are lost or stolen — something that’s not possible with EOAs.
Now let’s look at what Execution Abstraction makes possible.
A great example is cross-chain execution. Right now, most cross-chain protocols just move assets around — that’s because EOAs can’t be triggered externally. But with execution abstraction, we can send not just assets but also instructions. Executors can trigger the user’s account on the destination chain and carry out the transaction on behalf of users.
Another exciting capability is batch execution. Instead of sending multiple separate transactions—like approving a token and then making a swap—users can bundle those actions into a single transaction. This not only saves gas, but also improves composability and user experience.
Even more exciting is the ability to combine actions across multiple DApps. Today, users are limited to the features offered by DApps. But with Execution Abstraction, they can mix and match functionality from different protocols. This unlocks a whole new market — batch strategy markets — where users can create or adopt batches to execute complex strategies.
Now let’s move on to Gas Abstraction.
Thanks to gas abstraction, gas fees have become much more flexible. Users can now have their fees sponsored based on who they are—or what they do. Users can also pay gas with stablecoins like USDC, making it much easier for newcomers to get started.
Even better, users don’t have to pay gas upfront. With deferred fee payment, the transaction goes through first, and gas is paid afterward. That’s huge for onboarding — new users can just click a link, get their assets, and use them to pay for gas, no ETH required in advance.
It also lets users pay gas with tokens received from a swap — so arbitrage traders no longer need ETH to cover fees.
Privacy protocols benefit as well. Right now, withdrawing from a privacy pool requires sending ETH to the destination address in advance, which can expose the user. But with gas abstraction, users can withdraw first and then pay fees using part of the withdrawn assets — keeping their identity private.
And that brings us to the end of the presentation. I hope this talk has helped clarify what account abstraction is all about — and how it unlocks new applications through verification, execution, and gas abstraction.
Thanks so much for listening!