Upgrading ERC 4337: ZeroDev and Gelato

Gelato's bundler and paymaster system, now integrated with ZeroDev, takes a new approach to ERC-4337—a game-changer in Ethereum's gas estimation!

Gelato launches its cutting-edge bundler and paymaster system to ZeroDev's platform, raising the bar for efficiency and accuracy in gas estimation. Discover how this integration simplifies Ethereum's transaction process and get the inside scoop on Gelato's fresh approach to ERC-4337 in our latest post.

Understanding ERC-4337 Account Abstraction

ERC-4337 plays a pivotal role in modernizing Ethereum's blockchain transactions. It represents a shift from traditional Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to a more flexible and secure framework through account abstraction. This approach enables the creation of smart contract wallets, which offer several advantages over EOAs:

• Enhanced Security: Directly addressing vulnerabilities associated with EOAs.

• Customization and Programmability: Empowering users to establish custom rules and operations.

• Gas Payment Flexibility: Enabling fully sponsored transactions through a paymaster, utilizing a 1Balance USDC deposit for streamlined and efficient fee handling.

Key Components of ERC-4337

• Sender: An ERC-4337 compatible smart contract wallet that stores user assets and follows a specific interface for validating UserOperations.

• UserOperation: Pseudo-transaction objects sent to an alternate mempool, containing all necessary transaction details.

• EntryPoint: A singleton smart contract that handles the execution of UserOperations, offloading complex logic from individual wallets.

• Bundler: Nodes that package multiple UserOperations and send them to the EntryPoint, initially covering transaction fees.

• Paymaster: Covers transaction fees on behalf of users—particularly crucial in complex blockchain operations where managing costs can be challenging.

Gelato & ZeroDev: Pioneering ERC-4337

Gelato's bundler and paymaster system, now integrated with ZeroDev, takes a new approach to ERC-4337.

Key Advantages

• 100% Accuracy on Post-Execution Gas Settlement: Gelato's system charges users for the exact amount of gas consumed, with perfect accuracy. This ensures users only pay for what they use, eliminating overcharging.

• 30% Cheaper vs Traditional Methods: By avoiding on-chain paymaster deposits and fee transfer overheads, Gelato’s system is up to 30% cheaper than traditional methods.

• Unrestricted Smart Account Operation: Removes limitations such as blacklisted opcodes or restrictive gas limits, offering unlimited freedom in validation and execution. This is especially advantageous for ZeroDev in exploring signature verification and authentication logic.

• Broad Network Support: Operates seamlessly across all major EVM-compatible networks, including all Gelato Rollups, ensuring broad accessibility and compatibility.

Gelato’s Reimagined Bundler & Paymaster

The Gelato Bundler, built on top of our battle-tested Relay infrastructure, receives UserOperations and immediately includes them in a dedicated bundle executed by the EntryPoint smart contract. This eliminates delays in bundle formation and prevents multiple UserOperations from invalidating each other, providing greater flexibility during validation and execution.

The key difference between the Gelato Paymaster and other providers is that no EntryPoint deposit or on-chain paymaster is required. Instead, our 1Balance payment solution settles fees post-execution across all supported networks with just a single deposit. Settling after execution ensures exact gas costs are charged and reduces on-chain footprint, enabling seamless transaction sponsorship.

ZeroDev's Modular Smart Wallet SDK

ZeroDev is the most developer-friendly SDK for building AA-based wallets and applications. Thanks to AA, projects using ZeroDev can sponsor gas for users and batch transactions. More importantly, ZeroDev is pioneering “modular smart wallets” where developers extend wallet functionality with custom plugins.

At the core of ZeroDev’s modularity is Kernel—the most gas-optimised and widely-deployed smart account. Developers can extend Kernel accounts by writing plugins—smart contracts that modify wallet authorization logic. Through plugins, projects can integrate authentication flows such as session keys, 2FA, recovery, and multisig, or create their own.

ZeroDev integrates with popular authentication methods, from socials (Google/Facebook) to email to passkeys. It also works with WaaS providers like Privy and Dynamic, enabling AA on top of embedded wallet services.

Key Features of ZeroDev

• Flexible authentication methods – sign in via socials, passkeys, or EOAs.

• Native AA features – sponsor gas for users, batch and automate transactions, and more.

• Extensible wallet architecture – program custom authentication logic or integrate with plugins like session keys, 2FA, and recovery.

Conclusion

This partnership makes Gelato's gas calculations and transaction handling more efficient while showcasing ZeroDev's Kernel technology for smart wallets. Together, they provide a complete solution for simplifying complex blockchain transactions. Moving forward, the combination of ZeroDev's versatile wallet system and Gelato's effective transaction management sets a new standard for ERC-4337 adoption, making Ethereum easier and more accessible to use.

About Gelato

Gelato is a Web3 Cloud Platform empowering developers to create automated, gasless, and off-chain-aware Layer 2 chains and smart contracts. Over 400 Web3 projects rely on Gelato to facilitate millions of transactions in DeFi, NFTs, and gaming.

• Gelato RaaS: Deploy tailor-made ZK or OP L2 chains in a single click with native Account Abstraction and all Gelato middleware baked in.

• VRF: Fast, on-chain verifiable randomness for blockchain applications.

• Functions: Serverless, event-driven functions to automate blockchain transactions.

• Relay: Reliable, scalable gasless transactions via a simple-to-use API.

• Account Abstraction SDK: Built with Safe, combining Gelato’s gasless transaction capabilities with the industry’s most secure smart contract wallet.

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