Thread by @digitalmustafa

At @Visa, our goal is to always stay ahead of the curve. We're currently exploring the untapped potential of smart contracts, the future of programmable money and payments. We've recently delved into #AA , enabled by #ERC4337 and the exciting possibilities it opens up 🧵👇

Our experiments with ERC 4337 have focused on two unique use cases, deploying Paymaster contracts to evaluate their utility. We're looking at how these can address real world problems and enhance customer experiences with on-chain interactions

As blockchain tech continues to penetrate the mainstream, self-custodial wallets are gaining traction. Since Ethereum’s inception, roughly 180 million unique addresses have transacted, illustrating the growing popularity of digital currencies

Despite this, monthly Ethereum mainnet on-chain activity averages only a few million interactions. Compare this to Visa's 258 billion transactions in 2022, with 707 million transactions daily. Our global reach includes 4.1 billion Visa-linked cards

We ask, can blockchains reach similar adoption levels if they offer an equivalent range of payment experiences with the same ease? Potential steps include abstracting gas fees or enabling users to pay transaction fees in ERC-20 tokens

In an EOA transaction, users interact with self custodial wallets to initiate transactions. #ERC4337 introduces an alternative flow, adding new steps before reaching a proxy EOA address i.e. Bundler. UserOp are disseminated through a dedicated mempool, monitored by Bundlers

Paymaster, central in our exploration, is a smart contract account that sponsors transaction fees for Contract Accounts. They assess UserOperations during verification and implement fee logic during execution, enabling users to pay for gas in ERC-20 tokens

Our first Visa Paymaster contract investigates whether users can pay transaction fees with alternative tokens, like dollar stablecoins or, potentially, CBDCs. The Paymaster pays the ETH transaction fee, receiving an equal value of a generic ERC-20 token from the user

You can find our deployed contract here -goerli.etherscan.io/address/0x5419… , and a processed UserOperation here -4337.blocknative.com/ops/0xa5247966…

Web 2.0 P2P transactions are often free for consumers, prompting the question: why should blockchain P2P transactions cost? Our other Visa Paymaster contract fully sponsors transaction fees, further enhancing the user experience

You can find our deployed contract here - goerli.etherscan.io/address/0xc9bb…. Our test implementation was able to successfully sponsor user operation transaction fees of allowlisted users. You can check out a successful UserOperation here -4337.blocknative.com/ops/0xad9fb3e1…

With ERC 4337, the Ethereum community embarks on a new journey. There's enormous potential for growth and improvement in UX. We're excited to be part of this journey. For more detailed insights, find our full article here -usa.visa.com/solutions/cryp…

thanks to @johnrising_ , @mcutler , and the incredible team at the @ethereum working on #AccountAbstraction. Your insights and collaboration have been invaluable in this exploration!