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Ethereum’s account model represents each address as protocol state: a nonce, an ETH balance, a code hash, and a storage root. Traditionally, an externally owned account (EOA) is authorized by a private-key signature, while a contract account behaves according to EVM code. EIP-7702 now lets an EOA delegate execution to code without giving up its address or ability to originate transactions, so the old two-type distinction needs that qualification.
What is an Ethereum account?
An Ethereum account is an address-associated entity that can hold ETH and participate in messages on the network. Both EOAs and contract accounts can receive, hold, and send ETH and tokens, and interact with deployed contracts. The account is protocol state; a wallet is the application or interface used to interact with it, not the account itself. Ethereum’s account documentation describes the distinction.
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Account balances are recorded by the ledger, while private keys authorize actions for key-controlled accounts. ETH amounts are represented in wei: 1 ETH equals 1018 wei.
What information makes up an account’s state?
Ethereum’s documented account model has four state fields. These describe protocol state associated with an address, not a wallet’s user interface or where someone keeps a key.
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| Field | What it represents |
|---|---|
nonce |
For an EOA, a counter associated with transactions it sends; for a contract account, a counter associated with contracts it creates. Transaction nonces prevent a transaction from being reused. |
balance |
The ETH held by the address, denominated in wei. |
codeHash |
A hash identifying the account’s EVM code. In the traditional account model, an EOA’s code hash is the hash of empty code. |
storageRoot |
A root hash committing to the account’s storage trie; it is empty by default. |
The account documentation defines these fields. The empty-code description for an EOA is a traditional-model baseline, not an absolute rule after EIP-7702.
How do EOAs and contract accounts differ?
The conventional distinction is about how behavior is authorized and initiated. An EOA is controlled by private-key signatures; a contract account is governed by code deployed at its address. A contract can execute when called, but does not originate a conventional protocol transaction in the same way an EOA does.
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| Property | EOA, conventional model | Contract account |
|---|---|---|
| Authorization or behavior | Authorized by a key signature. | Behavior is defined by EVM code. |
| Can originate a conventional transaction? | Yes. | No; it participates through execution initiated by a transaction or another contract call. |
| Code and contract storage | Traditionally has no executable code; its code hash represents empty code. | Has code and can use contract storage. |
| Role in calls | Can send a transaction that calls a contract. | Runs when invoked and can make further contract calls during execution. |
This is a useful conventional comparison, not an exhaustive description of every modern account configuration: EIP-7702 allows an EOA to carry a code-delegation indicator.
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A conventional Ethereum transaction is a signed instruction that initiates a state update. It has a sender, recipient, signature, nonce, value, optional input data, and gas and fee fields. The sender is an EOA in this transaction model. If the recipient is a contract, the EVM executes its code; that execution can update account state and call other contracts. See Ethereum’s transaction documentation.
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The nonce helps ensure that a signed transaction is not accepted again as the same transaction. The balance may change when value is transferred or fees are paid; contract execution can also affect storage. The precise changes depend on the transaction and the code it invokes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does EIP-7702 change about EOAs?
Final Core EIP-7702 lets an EOA authorize code delegation with a signed tuple. A type 4 set-code transaction records a delegation indicator in the EOA’s code field, pointing to delegated code. When the account executes, that code runs in the EOA’s context. The delegation persists until it is changed or cleared through the defined mechanism; it is not limited to the single transaction that set it. The EOA retains its address and can continue originating transactions. Read the EIP-7702 specification.
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This enables account features such as batching, sponsorship, and restricted sub-keys while qualifying the simple claim that EOAs can never have code. It also makes delegate implementation security important: delegated code has broad access to the account, and EIP-7702 warns that a poorly implemented delegate can give an attacker near-complete control. That is a risk of unsafe delegated implementations, not a claim that every EIP-7702-enabled wallet is unsafe. Initialization and storage layout need careful handling.
How does ERC-4337 account abstraction work?
ERC-4337 adds an account-abstraction flow without introducing a new consensus-layer transaction type. Instead of directly broadcasting a conventional transaction for each user action, a user’s action is represented as a UserOperation and sent to a dedicated mempool. A bundler collects operations and submits a transaction that calls an EntryPoint contract. The smart-contract account validates authorization; an optional paymaster can agree to cover fees. The ERC-4337 specification also describes support for EIP-7702-delegated accounts.
| Aspect | Conventional transaction | ERC-4337 flow |
|---|---|---|
| Object representing the user action | A protocol transaction. | A UserOperation, which is not itself a consensus transaction. |
| Validation | Protocol transaction validation, including signature and nonce checks. | Account-defined validation performed by a smart-contract account through the EntryPoint flow. |
| Submission path | Sent as a transaction for inclusion in a block. | Sent to a dedicated mempool; a bundler packages operations into a transaction calling EntryPoint. |
| Fee payment | Paid through the transaction’s fee mechanism by its sender. | An optional paymaster can agree to pay fees, subject to the flow’s rules. |
Account abstraction shifts some authorization and payment behavior into account code and supporting infrastructure. It does not replace Ethereum’s ordinary transaction object with UserOperation.
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