We are welcoming you to our weekly digest! Here, we discuss the latest trends and advancements in account abstraction, chain abstraction and everything related, as well as bring some insights from Etherspot’s kitchen.
The latest news we'll cover:
- EIP-8151 Proposes Private-Key Deactivation Awareness for ecRecover
- EIP-7851 Advances Key Deactivation for Delegated EOAs
- Vitalik Buterin Pushes Cypherpunk Ethereum Layer
- Coinbase-Backed Base to Move Off OP Stack
- Curvegrid Launches EIP-7702 Delegation Checker App
Please fasten your belts!
EIP-8151 Proposes Private-Key Deactivation Awareness for ecRecover
A new proposal, EIP-8151, has been introduced on the Ethereum Magicians forum to modify the ecrecover precompile so that it becomes aware of private-key deactivation under EIP-7851. The draft, authored by Colinlyguo and published on February 9, 2026, aims to close a gap created by the interaction between delegated EOAs and key deactivation mechanisms.
EIP-7851 allows delegated externally owned accounts (EOAs) to deactivate their private keys. However, ecrecover is a stateless precompile: even if a key is deactivated at the protocol level, on-chain signature verification using ecrecover will still return the original address for valid signatures. This creates inconsistencies for contracts that rely on signature-based authorization.
According to the proposal, EIP-8151 would modify ecrecover so that after recovering a public key, the precompile checks whether the corresponding address has been deactivated. If the key is deactivated, the function would return the zero address instead of the recovered address. This change is intended to protect immutable contracts, such as ERC-20 tokens implementing ERC-2612 permit and systems like Uniswap’s Permit2, that depend on ecrecover and cannot be upgraded to add deactivation logic.
The proposal explicitly notes its limitation: contracts that implement ECDSA verification directly in Solidity, bypassing the precompile, would not be affected by this change.
EIP-7851 Advances Key Deactivation for Delegated EOAs
EIP-7851 continues to evolve on the Ethereum Magicians forum, proposing a protocol-level mechanism that allows delegated externally owned accounts to deactivate their private keys. Originally introduced in December 2024 by Colinlyguo, the proposal has undergone multiple refinements through 2025 and into early 2026.
The most recent update, published on February 14, 2026, removes the reactivation flow entirely, introduces a 7-day cancellation window for deactivation requests, and replaces the earlier trailing-byte encoding design with a system contract approach. These changes aim to simplify the security model and reduce ambiguity around key lifecycle management.
EIP-7851 is designed to work alongside EIP-7702, which enables delegated EOAs. The primary goal is to let users deactivate their original ECDSA private key once delegation is in place, reducing attack surface, particularly in a multi-chain ecosystem where the same key may control accounts across multiple EVM-compatible networks.
One of the central technical considerations discussed in the thread is the impact on transaction validation. The proposal introduces an additional account code read during txpool validation to check whether a key has been deactivated. Alternatives explored include adding a boolean field to account state or encoding deactivation status into the nonce, though each approach carries trade-offs in complexity and compatibility.
A major point of debate has been how ecrecover should behave after key deactivation. Community members raised concerns that if ecrecover continues to return valid addresses for deactivated keys, signature-based authorization systems, such as ERC-2612 permit implementations, could remain vulnerable. This discussion later led to a separate proposal (EIP-8151) focused specifically on making ecrecover deactivation-aware.
Vitalik Buterin Pushes Cypherpunk Ethereum Layer
Vitalik Buterin signaled plans to build a “cypherpunk principled non-ugly Ethereum” layer as a tightly integrated bolt-on to the current network, rejecting calls to abandon the existing chain and rebuild from scratch.
Responding to criticism about fragmentation across clients, L2s, and app chains, Buterin said the goal is to strengthen censorship resistance, zk-friendliness, and consensus properties system-wide, while preserving interoperability and continuity.
His comments come as Ethereum developers schedule Fork-Choice Enforced Inclusion Lists (FOCIL), under EIP-7805, for the Hegota hard fork expected in late 2026, following the Glamsterdam upgrade. FOCIL is designed to harden censorship resistance by requiring validators to include valid public mempool transactions. Validator committees would enforce inclusion via fork-choice rules, meaning blocks that ignore valid transactions could be rejected.
Developers argue FOCIL provides protocol-level guarantees that valid transactions are included within a bounded number of slots, even in contentious cases. Critics, however, warn the mechanism could expose validators to legal risk and increase protocol complexity. Despite debate, FOCIL has been slated for Hegota after being deferred from Glamsterdam.
Alongside FOCIL, EIP-8141 is expected to advance protocol-level account abstraction, enabling native smart wallets and multisig support. The upgrade also aims to improve support for quantum-resistant keys and gas-sponsored privacy transactions. By allowing smart wallet transactions to flow directly through the public mempool to FOCIL includers, developers hope to reduce reliance on intermediaries and wrappers.
Buterin also outlined a broader vision to gradually evolve Ethereum’s base layer. He pointed to potential “jet engine changes in-flight,” referencing the Merge as precedent, and listed future transformations including state tree redesign, lean consensus, ZK-EVM verification, and even a VM change, such as a move toward RISC-V for stronger zero-knowledge compatibility and broader language support.
Coinbase-Backed Base to Move Off OP Stack
Coinbase-incubated Ethereum layer-2 network Base announced it will transition away from the open-source Optimism OP Stack and adopt a unified in-house technology stack to accelerate upgrades and reduce operational overhead.
Base Head of Product Wilson Cusack said the shift will give the team “autonomy to ship protocol improvements more frequently” and focus on scaling the network toward its long-term goal of 1 gigagas per second, equivalent to 1 billion gas units per second. That throughput target, previously described as Base’s “north star,” represents roughly 40x the network’s earlier performance benchmarks.
Become a Medium member
Under the new roadmap, Base plans to double its hard-fork cadence from three to six per year. The aim is to ship narrower, more focused upgrades at a faster pace.
According to the Base developer blog, parts of the network, including the sequencer, are currently maintained across multiple teams and repositories, creating coordination and maintenance overhead. The new unified stack, referred to as base/base, will consolidate components and optimize them specifically for Base’s use case, leveraging open-source building blocks such as Reth.
Although no immediate action is required, node operators and developers will need to migrate to the new Base client in the coming months to remain compatible. The team says the architectural changes are expected to support greater scalability and decentralization over time.
The move comes shortly after Coinbase’s Q4 earnings, where the company reiterated plans to drive more transaction activity on Base in 2026.
Curvegrid Launches EIP-7702 Delegation Checker App
Curvegrid has introduced a new open-source EIP-7702 Delegation Checker App, designed to help users verify whether their Ethereum addresses have been delegated under EIP-7702 across multiple EVM chains. The tool addresses a growing visibility gap as account abstraction and wallet delegation become more common.
EIP-7702 allows externally owned accounts (EOAs) to execute programmable smart contract logic via delegation, effectively enabling an address to function both as a traditional EOA and as a smart wallet. While this unlocks batching, gas sponsorship, and custom authorization rules, delegation introduces a new trust model, closer to installing persistent software than approving a one-time transaction.
Curvegrid argues that delegation visibility is critical for safety. Before the checker’s release, users had to manually inspect multiple block explorers or write custom scripts to determine whether an address had been delegated. The Delegation Checker consolidates this process into a simple interface where users paste an address or ENS name and instantly see delegation status across supported EVM networks, without requiring a wallet connection.
The tool surfaces three visual signals for detected delegations: a green check mark for recognized implementations, a question mark for unknown delegates, and an orange warning triangle for contracts associated with malicious or compromised activity. Curvegrid emphasizes that these indicators assist interpretation but do not replace user due diligence.
The app runs entirely in the browser, requires no backend infrastructure, and does not transmit wallet data upstream. It queries multiple RPC endpoints directly and allows revocation where wallet support exists. However, revocation remains inconsistent across wallet providers, highlighting what Curvegrid describes as a broader UX gap in the ecosystem.
The company notes that while the checker improves transparency, it cannot recover funds after compromise or guarantee delegate contract safety.
Start exploring Account Abstraction with Etherspot!
- Learn more about account abstraction here.
- Head to our docs and read all about Etherspot Modular SDK.
- Skandha — developer-friendly Typescript ERC4337 Bundler.
- Arka — an open-source Paymaster Service for gasless & sponsored transactions.
- Explore our TransactionKit, a React library for fast & simple Web3 development.
- Follow us on X (Twitter) and join our Discord.
❓Is your dApp ready for Account Abstraction? Check it out here: https://eip1271.io/
Follow us
Etherspot Website | X | Discord | Telegram | Github | Developer Portal
Top comments (0)