Ethereum’s Upcoming Hard Fork Aims to Eliminate Lost Private Keys Issue

In an effort to address the persistent concern of lost seed phrases among Ethereum users, the planned Pectra hard fork will introduce a groundbreaking “social recovery” feature as part of Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074.

Confirmed by Ethereum core developer Tim Beiko in an April 11 post on X, EIP-3074 will usher in significant enhancements to ordinary Ethereum wallets (externally owned accounts), including advanced smart contract capabilities for asset recovery.

Outlined in a blog post by Ethereum Foundation researcher “Domothy” on March 25, the social recovery tool necessitates users to transfer asset ownership to an invoker contract through a digital signature. This contract will subsequently execute all future transactions and function calls on behalf of the user.

To facilitate this functionality, the implementation of “AUTH” and “AUTHCALL” opcodes will be pivotal, as elucidated by cryptocurrency commentator Cygaar in an April 11 post on X.

While this feature offers a solution to the issue of lost seed phrases, Domothy cautions against potential risks, such as funds being drained by malicious invoker contracts. However, he anticipates the availability of formally verified and meticulously audited invoker contracts post-Pectra upgrade.

The introduction of EIP-3074 also brings notable advantages, including the removal of the requirement for users to hold Ether in their wallets to initiate transactions. Instead, the entity behind the invoker contract will cover transaction costs upfront, potentially accelerating mass retail adoption, as highlighted by Cygaar.

Furthermore, EIP-3074 enables the consolidation of multiple actions into a single transaction, streamlining processes such as token swaps on platforms like Uniswap.

With the Pectra hard fork slated for late 2024 or early 2025, Ethereum stands poised to address longstanding usability concerns while advancing its capabilities for a more efficient and user-friendly experience.