Ethereum's Pectra Hard Fork and EIP-3074 Upgrade to Make Asset Recovery Easier for Users
Summary:
The Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-3074), part of the Pectra hard fork, aims to add several new capabilities to ordinary Ethereum wallets. The significant feature of this upgrade is "social recovery" which will allow users to regain their assets in case they lose or forget their seed phrases. This upgrade will also allow multiple transactions and functions to be performed under one digital signature. However, there are concerns over potential fund losses if users assign their assets to a malicious invoker contract. The Pectra hard fork is anticipated to occur in late 2024 or early 2025.
User concern over misplaced seed phrases on Ethereum may soon be a thing of the past, with the announcement of a "social recovery" feature, part of the forthcoming EIP-3074 upgrade as part of the Pectra hard fork. The Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP-3074) was greenlighted for inclusion in the Pectra hard fork by lead Ethereum developer Tim Beiko in an April 11 X post. The upgrade's implementation will significantly enhance regular Ethereum wallets (also known as externally owned accounts) by integrating several new capabilities of smart contracts, such as the recovery of assets, as explained by the Ethereum Foundation researcher "Domothy" in a March 25 blog post.
For users to tap into the social recovery tool, they first need to shift the control of their assets to an invoker contract, facilitated by a digital signature. This invoker contract will then perform future transactions and functions on behalf of the user. Despite the delegation of control, however, the digital signature's message gives users the ability to reclaim assets if they misplace or forget their seed phrase.
The introduction of "AUTH" and "AUTHCALL" opcodes will facilitate this feature, as per the April 11 X post from cryptocurrency analyst cygaar. "AUTH" will validate a user's signature and the intended action, while "AUTHCALL" will instruct the target contract to complete the transaction, with the user being the caller, not the invoker contract.
However, Domothy has raised the potential issue of fund depletion should users assign their assets to a nefarious invoker contract. In spite of this, he anticipates the emergence of several thoroughly audited and formally verified invoker contracts following the Pectra upgrade.
Historically, an estimated several billion dollars' worth of cryptocurrency has been lost due to forgotten or misplaced private keys.
Another advantage that EIP-3074 brings is that users won't require Ether (ETH) in their wallets to perform transactions - the institution behind the invoker contract can bear these costs. "This could significantly drive mass retail adoption," commented cygaar.
EIP-3074 also allows multiple actions within one transaction. "Currently, to exchange tokens on Uniswap, you must first authorize Uniswap's usage of your tokens, then execute the actual swap. Not ideal," says cygaar, but with EIP-3074, these two steps can be consolidated into one transaction.
Forecasts predict the Pectra hard fork will launch in late 2024 or early 2025.
Published At
4/12/2024 8:35:43 AM
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