# ERC 4337 Account abstraction is a new approach to managing crypto assets that has the potential to revolutionize the way users interact with the Ethereum blockchain, allowing users to use smart contracts as their primary accounts instead of externally owned accounts (EOAs). ## Externally Owned Accounts ( EOA ) EOAs are the traditional type of account used on Ethereum. They are controlled by private keys, which must be kept secret in order to prevent unauthorized access to the account's funds. However, EOAs have a number of limitations,including: * They are vulnerable to theft and loss of private keys. * They are not very flexible or programmable. * They can be expensive to use, due to the need to pay gas fees. ## Smart Contract wallet Smart contracts, on the other hand, are much more powerful and flexible. They can be programmed to implement a wide variety of features, such as multi-signature authorization, social recovery, and automatic gas fee payment. [ERC 4337 (Account Abstraction via Entry Point Contract specification)](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-4337) uses an entry point contract to achieve account abstraction without changing the consensus layer protocol of Ethereum. Instead of modifying the consensus layer protocol of Ethereum, ERC-4337 introduces a higher-level system called the UserOperation mempool. Users send `UserOperation` objects to this mempool, which package up their intent along with signatures and other data for verification. Miners or bundlers can then package up a set of UserOperation objects into a single "bundle transaction", which is then included in a block.

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