Coinbase’s tokenless blockchain has rapidly become a frontrunner in adopting account abstraction. It revolutionized innovative wallet technology to resemble internet accounts while preserving the ability to manage and transfer tokens.
In May, a significant increase in the usage of these wallets marked Base’s emergence as a critical player in the ERC-4337 upgrade on Ethereum. Although not the largest holder of wallets, Base has become the most active, attracting users with its low fees and integrating substantial inflows from the Ethereum ecosystem, indicating a potential shift in influential scaling solutions.
Surge in smart wallet adoption
The total number of smart wallets or ERC-4337 accounts has now surpassed 6.4 million. Various scaling blockchains have begun to implement this standard, each showing different levels of engagement. Base, however, stands out due to a sharp increase in May activity. Its wallets are among the highest gas consumption and lead in transaction production.
The trend known as “on-chain summer” could further enhance the popularity of Coinbase’s smart wallets despite only representing a small fraction of the more than 500 million wallets estimated across all blockchains. Since their introduction, account abstraction wallets have grown from 400,000 to millions in less than a year. Base and Polygon prominently drive this innovation by lowering transaction fees linked to DeFi, airdrops, and NFT activities.
Innovations in wallet technology
Previously, projects like the WAX wallet and games like Vulcan Forged attempted to simplify crypto wallet interfaces but faced challenges, including security vulnerabilities. Nowadays, venture capital fund startups focus on creating specialized abstracted wallets, foreseeing a potential hype in the crypto sector.
The ERC-4337 standard, pivotal in this new era, provides robust tools for asset transfer, marking a significant stride toward the widespread adoption of user-friendly and secure smart wallets. The initial momentum for these wallets began in the second half of 2023, with chains like Optimism and Arbitrum initially leading. Still, Base has rapidly caught up, establishing itself as a leader in the field.
The current landscape of ERC-4337 wallets
Although Polygon remains the top blockchain regarding the sheer volume of ERC-4337 wallets, hosting over 5.6 million accounts, Base has demonstrated more substantial recent activity. With about 124,000 accounts, Base’s focus on transaction revenue and cross-chain activities peaked in May, overtaking other blockchains like Avalanche, Arbitrum, and Ethereum in active wallets, which total over 29,000. These ERC-4337 wallets facilitate User Operations as the basis of transactions, with each blockchain providing a Bundler service to check, verify, and process these transactions.
These services are becoming major revenue streams for applications, underscoring the growing importance of this technology in the blockchain ecosystem. By streamlining the crypto experience and reducing operational costs, Base is enhancing its position and shaping the future of blockchain scalability and user engagement in cryptocurrency.