ERC-8004: The Missing Permission Layer for Smart Wallets
Ethereum wallets have evolved fast—but permissions haven’t.
We went from single private keys to smart contract wallets, from EOAs to Account Abstraction, from manual signing to automation. Yet one core problem keeps resurfacing:
Wallet access is still mostly all-or-nothing.
ERC-8004 exists to fix that.
The Problem With Today’s Wallet Permissions
Most wallets today operate on a blunt security model:
You either control the wallet
Or you don’t
If you give access to a bot, dApp, or automation tool, you’re often granting far more power than intended. That’s why:
Trading bots can drain wallets
Session keys feel unsafe
Automation remains niche
Users hesitate to delegate anything meaningful
Smart wallets became programmable—but permissions stayed primitive.
What ERC-8004 Proposes
ERC-8004 is a proposed Ethereum standard designed to introduce fine-grained, programmable permissions for smart wallets.
Instead of blanket approval, wallets can define explicit constraints, such as:
Who can act on behalf of the wallet
Which contracts can be interacted with
Spending caps per transaction or time window
Allowed function calls
Expiration times
Gas or sponsorship rules
In plain English:
ERC-8004 lets you say “yes, but only like this.”
Why This Matters for Account Abstraction
ERC-8004 pairs naturally with ERC-4337 (Account Abstraction).
ERC-4337 changes how transactions are executed.
ERC-8004 pairs naturally with ERC-4337 (Account Abstraction).
ERC-4337 changes how transactions are executed.
ERC-8004 defines what is allowed to be executed.
Together, they enable:
Safe session keys
Delegated automation
AI agents with guardrails
Non-custodial bots
Consumer-grade UX without custodial risk
Without a permission layer like ERC-8004, Account Abstraction wallets remain powerful—but dangerous.
The Automation & AI Angle
DeFi’s next phase isn’t more dashboards. Its agents.
Bots that:
Rebalance portfolios
Optimize yields
Execute strategies
React to market conditions
Manage positions automatically
But automation without constraints is a liability.
ERC-8004 allows:
Bots that can trade, but not withdraw
Agents that operate only on approved protocols
Limits that cap damage from bugs or exploits
Time-boxed permissions that self-revoke
This is the difference between autonomy and recklessness.
Current Status: Early, But Inevitable
Important reality check:
ERC-8004 is not finalized
Adoption is early
Tooling is still emerging
That said, the direction is unavoidable.
As wallets become the control layer for capital, identity, AI, and on-chain automation, permission abstraction becomes mandatory, not optional.
Why ERC-8004 (or Something Like It) Will Win
Crypto doesn’t fail because of a lack of power.
It fails because power is unsafe to use.
ERC-8004 introduces:
Safety without custody
Control without friction
Delegation without blind trust
In the long run, users won’t ask:
“Can my wallet do this?”
They’ll ask:
“Can my wallet do this safely?”
ERC-8004 is one of the first serious attempts to answer that question.
