Data released on November 14 shows that ERC-4437 has failed to attract significant interest among Ethereum developers and users in the months since its launch.
When ERC-4437 was introduced in March 2023, many in the Ethereum community were optimistic that these so-called “smart computations” would improve user experiences on Ethereum-compatible blockchains. By allowing assets to be controlled via smart contracts rather than externally owned accounts (EOAs), ERC-4437 was supposed to make transactions easier and more secure for ordinary users.
Adoption has failed despite Ethereum support
According to numbers from BundleBear, an account divestiture data analysis platform, the use and retention of these smart accounts has been disappointing so far. Only 6.89% of the initially created Smart Accounts remained active for more than six months. The ERC-4437 enabled intermediate account also only performed five transactions in total.
The decline in user engagement comes despite ERC-4437’s stated advantages of eliminating seed phrases and simplifying transactions. The standard was specifically designed to make Ethereum easier to use, but slow progress indicates that these user experience goals have not yet been achieved.
In addition, the underlying infrastructure providers that enable this functionality struggle to make a profit. The packages, which allow smart calculations to run on EVM chains, operate largely at a loss, with some users even accidentally paying gas fees.
Looking at the data, ERC-4437 proponent John Rising described the adoption numbers as “horrific.” After being launched and promoted enthusiastically, the standard has so far failed to deliver the promised advancements in the Ethereum user experience.
Will ERC-4437 eventually catch fire on Ethereum?
Some members of the Ethereum community are urging patience with ERC-4437. Jesse Pollack, protocol lead at Coinbase, said adoption of new standards happens gradually before reaching an inflection point. The growth of ERC-4437 may seem slow now, but it may suddenly accelerate as more developers build the supporting infrastructure.
In August 2023, the most active ERC-4437 wallets were recorded in a single month, with more than 420,000 on seven blockchain networks. While that number fell to 143,000 in October, it still indicates steady initial adoption. As for the standard released in 2023, Pollack emphasized that ERC-4437 adoption remains good even if it falls short of initial expectations.
The coming months will be crucial in determining whether ERC-4437 delivers on its promise of improving the user experience on Ethereum. For now, the reality is that adoption remains hush-hush. But Ethereum’s history shows that community standards like ERC-20 were also slow to gain traction before transforming the ecosystem. ERC-4437 proponents are still betting that the latter standard will eventually catch on in a similar way.