Solidity account abstraction

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Creating a Solidity Smart Contract with Account Abstraction. One of the most exciting features of Solidity is account abstraction. Account abstraction allows developers to create custom account types that have specialized functionality beyond the standard Ethereum accounts. With account abstraction, you can create smart contracts that define custom account types that require multiple signatures to authorize a transaction, implement an escrow service, or other complex features.

In this article, we’ll walk through the steps to create a Solidity smart contract with account abstraction. We’ll start by explaining what account abstraction is and why it’s important. Then we’ll cover the basic concepts of Solidity programming, including data types, functions, and events. Finally, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide to creating a smart contract with account abstraction.

What is account abstraction?

Account abstraction is a feature of Solidity that allows developers to create custom account types with specialized functionality. Ethereum uses two types of accounts: external accounts and contract accounts. An external account is controlled by a private key, and a contract account is controlled by a smart contract.

With account abstraction, developers can create custom contract accounts that have unique functionality beyond what is provided by standard contract accounts. For example, you could create a contract account that requires multiple signatures to authorize a transaction, or a contract account that implements an escrow service.

Why is account abstraction important?

Account abstraction is important because it allows developers to create more sophisticated and flexible smart contracts. With account abstraction, developers can define custom account types that implement specific business logic, which can simplify the creation of complex smart contracts.

Account abstraction also helps to improve the security and usability of the Ethereum blockchain. By abstracting away the details of the underlying account architecture, developers can focus on building more sophisticated applications and services on top of the blockchain.

Creating a smart contract with account abstraction

Below is an example Solidity smart contract with account abstraction that implements an escrow service using a custom contract account type:

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

struct EscrowAccount {
    uint balance;
    address buyer;
    address seller;
    bool buyerApproved;
    bool sellerApproved;
}

contract EscrowService {

    mapping (address => EscrowAccount) public escrowAccounts;

    function createEscrowAccount(address buyer, address seller, uint amount) public {
        EscrowAccount memory escrow = EscrowAccount({
            balance: amount,
            buyer: buyer,
            seller: seller,
            buyerApproved: false,
            sellerApproved: false
        });
        escrowAccounts[address(escrow)] = escrow;
    }

    function approveTransaction() public {
        EscrowAccount storage escrow = escrowAccounts[msg.sender];
        if (msg.sender == escrow.buyer) {
            escrow.buyerApproved = true;
        } else if (msg.sender == escrow.seller) {
            escrow.sellerApproved = true;
        }
        if (escrow.buyerApproved && escrow.sellerApproved) {
            escrow.buyerApproved = false;
            escrow.sellerApproved = false;
            payable(escrow.seller).transfer(escrow.balance);
        }
    }

}

Try it in Remix

In this example, we define a custom account type called “EscrowAccount” using a struct. The “EscrowAccount” has five fields: “balance” (the amount of funds in escrow), “buyer” (the Ethereum address of the buyer), “seller” (the Ethereum address of the seller), and “buyerApproved” and “sellerApproved” (booleans indicating whether the buyer and seller have approved the transaction).

The smart contract itself is called “EscrowService” and contains a mapping from account addresses to “EscrowAccount” structs. The “createEscrowAccount” function is used to create a new escrow account with a specified buyer, seller, and amount. The “approveTransaction” function is used to approve a transaction by the buyer or seller. When both the buyer and seller have approved the transaction, the funds are transferred to the seller.

This example demonstrates how account abstraction can be used to create a custom contract account type that implements specialized functionality. In this case, the “EscrowAccount” provides an escrow service that requires both the buyer and seller to approve the release of funds. With account abstraction, developers can create more complex and flexible smart contracts that meet the specific needs of their applications.

Resources

Blockchain Networks

Below is a list of EVM compatible Mainnet and Testnet blockchain networks. Each link contains network configuration, links to multiple faucets for test ETH and tokens, bridge details, and technical resources for each blockchain. Basically everything you need to test and deploy smart contracts or decentralized applications on each chain. For a list of popular Ethereum forums and chat applications click here.

Ethereum test network configuration and test ETH faucet information
Optimistic Ethereum Mainnet and Testnet configuration, bridge details, etc.
Polygon network Mainnet and Testnet configuration, faucets for test MATIC tokens, bridge details, etc.
Binance Smart Chain Mainnet and Testnet configuration, faucets for test BNB tokens, bridge details, etc.
Fanton networt Mainnet and Testnet configuration, faucets for test FTM tokens, bridge details, etc.
Kucoin Chain Mainnet and Testnet configuration, faucets for test KCS tokens, bridge details, etc.

Web3 Software Libraries

You can use the following libraries to interact with an EVM compatible blockchain.