Account abstraction could bring the next billion users to Ethereum: Ambire CEO

cointelegraph.com:

In episode 19 of Cointelegraph’s Hashing It Out podcast, Elisha Owusu Akyaw talks to Ivo Georgiev, CEO of Ethereum smart contract wallet Ambire. Georgiev explained account abstraction and how wallets can bring more people to the network. 

Georgiev believes self-custody is an “extremely difficult” problem that can be solved with account abstraction. He explained that account abstraction makes crypto wallets programmable, giving them multiple keys and allowing features like two-factor authentication.

The CEO claimed that account abstraction could boost crypto adoption through new tools like embedding wallets on websites. “I think account abstraction will onboard the next one billion users on Ethereum,” he added.

Beyond what needs to be added to wallets to make them more user-friendly, Georgiev was asked to suggest new features that wallets could provide. Using MetaMask as a case study, he explained that there is very little need to remove any features as they currently exist. However, removing the swapping feature may be something wallets will do since multiple decentralized exchanges provide such services, and there is a growing need to adopt a minimalistic design. To conclude, Georgiev highlights that the most important improvement for wallets is changing the user onboarding process.

Related: Mutual aid, DAOs and activism: The Agenda podcast chats with PactDAO co-founder Marisa Rando

On regulations, Ambire’s CEO says they are not happy with the current landscape, but he doesn’t think wallets will be a major target of regulators in the near future.

Listen to the latest episode of Hashing It Out with Ivo Georgiev on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or TuneIn. You can also explore Cointelegraph’s full roster of