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Account Types in Circle

You will learn about two types of accounts: SCA and EOA accounts. Each account type has different features and capabilities.

SCA stands for Smart Contract Account. It is an account that is controlled by a smart contract code. It can send and receive transactions, store data, and execute logic. An SCA can also create other SCAs or EOAs.

EOA stands for Externally Owned Account. It is an account that is controlled by a private key. It can send and receive transactions, but it cannot store data or execute logic. An EOA can only interact with SCAs by sending transactions to them.

Account Abstraction

Account abstraction (ERC-4337)` is a feature that allows users to pay gas fees with any token, instead of using the native token of the platform. This feature enables users to access a wider range of applications and services on the platform, without having to worry about the availability and volatility of the native token.

Account abstraction works by allowing users to specify the token and the amount they want to use for gas fees in their transactions. The platform then verifies if the user has enough balance of that token in their account, and deducts the gas fees from their account accordingly. The platform also converts the gas fees from the token to the native token, and pays the validators who process the transactions.

Gas Station

Circle’s Gas Station allows the developer to sponsor the gas fees on behalf of the users, allowing them to focus solely on transacting without getting bogged down by any complexities.
A gas station acts as an intermediary between the user and the platform, by providing the user with a signed transaction that includes the gas fees in the native token.
The user then sends the signed transaction to the platform, and the platform executes it as if it was sent by the gas station.

In this section, you will use a gas station, so that you can transfer tokens without needing to have native tokens.

To use a gas station the account type must be SCA.

In the testnet, the gas station process is automatically handled meaning that you do not need the configuration but in the mainnet, you will need to set this up and also provide your credit card as the payment method.

Summary

There are two different account types: SCA and EOA.
You can use a gas station to sponsor the gas fee of your users .
To use a gas station, the account type must be SCA.