ERC-4337: Why Account Abstraction is a Game Changer for Crypto Gambling

On the first of March 2023 the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 4337 was implemented, making the Ethereum Request for Comment (ERC) 4337 standard available to developers. It brings a lot of cool stuff to the table, especially from a decentralized gambling perspective.

So, what is this all about? Mainly it deals with what is called “Account Abstraction”. Without getting into anything technical (for that you can head to erc4337.io , let us start with an overview of some of the good stuff that ERC-4337 makes available.

Account Abstraction and Smart Contract Wallets

This can be seen as an agent controlled by your main Ehereum keys, and can be programmed to do a lot of interesting stuff. For instance they can:

• Recover accounts without seed phrases – using means like email.
• Paymaster – allows us to pay gas for others, or have someone else pay for you– it also allows gas to be spent in other ERC-20 tokens, not only ETH!
• Batched transactions – means less signing, friction in user experience, and reduced gas fees. Approve, and start a new real money game round in one click.
• Security logic – can be programmed into the wallet, and only allow transfers to whitelisted addresses, basically making it useless even if a malicious actor gains control. Multi sigs can of course also be setup.

With that little overview out of the way, let us look at how it affects crypto gambling with a real-world case that is already live.

Smart Accounts at JustBet

With Smart Accounts on JustBet we do not need to have a web3 wallet installed on our device. We can log in using Google or other social media credentials (fake or real). This is a huge leap forward in terms of accessibility. No need to connect a hot wallet! And once funded you can access the account from basically any device, and play your favourite provably fair games without having to install a wallet.

Once logged in we can see the Arbitrum address tied to and controlled by our login credentials. Once we have funded the addy, we are ready to start playing. JustBet supports the following (on Arbitrum):

• wETH
• wBTC
• USDC.e
• USDC
• USDT

At the time of writing we can play the provably fair classics like Roulette, Plinko, Crash, Dice, Coin Flip, Video Poker, Keno, Wheel of Fortune, Limbo, Mines, Virtual Horse Racing, and Slots (although not really comparable to traditional online slots) at JustBet, but more games are coming soon™ (Lottery, Poker and Blackjack).

There is also a neat rakeback system in place that gives back part of your bets over time. Paid out on-chain, of course. Use our referral code CGC and you will get a lifetime extra 5 percent.