Key Points
- Ethereum developers are working on a “social recovery” feature that could help users retrieve lost private keys.
- The feature will be part of the upcoming Pectra hard fork and Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074 upgrade.
The team behind the Ethereum blockchain is reportedly developing a new feature that could alleviate concerns about lost private keys. The feature, known as “social recovery,” is set to be part of the Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) 3074 upgrade, which will be introduced with the forthcoming Pectra hard fork.
Ethereum’s lead developer, Tim Beiko, confirmed the inclusion of EIP-3074 in the Pectra hard fork in a recent announcement. The upgrade will essentially enhance regular Ethereum wallets with new smart contract capabilities, allowing for the recovery of assets, as explained by Ethereum Foundation researcher, “Domothy”.
How the Social Recovery Tool Works
To utilize the social recovery tool, users must first transfer their assets’ ownership to an invoker contract via a digital signature. This contract will then carry out future transactions and function calls on behalf of the user.
After ownership delegation, a message in the digital signature will enable the user to retrieve their assets if they lose or forget their seed phrase. The feature’s implementation will depend on the integration of the “AUTH” and “AUTHCALL” opcodes, as discussed by cryptocurrency commentator Cygaar.
The “AUTH” opcode verifies a user’s signature and intended action, ensuring it was signed correctly. After this verification, the “AUTHCALL” opcode starts the transaction by calling the target contract, designating the user as the caller rather than the invoker contract.
Caution for Ethereum Users
Domothy has cautioned that if users delegate their assets to a malicious invoker address, they could risk losing all their funds. He also said that with the Pectra upgrade, there would be some formally verified and audited invoker contracts available.
Over the past few years, users have lost billions of dollars in digital assets due to lost private keys. Cygaar believes this feature could significantly increase mass retail adoption. It also allows the execution of multiple actions within a single transaction.
For example, to swap tokens on Uniswap, users currently must authorize Uniswap to access their tokens and then proceed with the swap. With 3074, these two actions can be combined into one transaction.
According to market expectations, the Pectra hard fork is expected to be implemented by late 2024 or early 2025.
