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The EntryPoint Contract

The heart of ERC-4337 — how EntryPoint validates, simulates, and executes UserOperations.

The EntryPoint contract is the core of ERC-4337. It acts as the universal gateway for all smart contract wallet interactions under Account Abstraction, coordinating validation, execution, sponsorship, and bundling logic.

🛠 Core Responsibilities

The EntryPoint contract performs the following:

✅ handleOps(UserOperation[] ops, address beneficiary)

Main entry for bundlers:

  • Loops over each UserOp
  • Validates each via validateUserOp() on the wallet
  • If valid, executes the call
  • Charges gas costs and transfers to beneficiary (usually the bundler)

🧪 simulateValidation(UserOperation op)

Used off-chain by bundlers before inclusion:

  • Runs all validation logic
  • Reverts with detailed status (including aggregator or paymaster info)
  • Helps detect invalid or malicious ops before execution

💸 depositTo(address target) and balanceOf(address)

  • Wallets and paymasters must fund gas fees through deposits
  • EntryPoint holds ETH balances for them
  • These are used to settle costs post-execution

⛓ addStake(), unlockStake(), withdrawStake()

  • Required for paymasters
  • Prevents griefing attacks and enforces economic alignment

↩️ Simulation & Reversion by Design

Simulation is a core design pattern:

  • simulateValidation() is expected to revert
  • Reversion includes encoded data for bundlers
  • Off-chain tools like eth_call and debug_traceCall can interpret these reverts

🛠️ Compatibility & Deployment

  • Only one EntryPoint should be deployed per chain
  • Major bundlers hardcode the address (often 0x0576…)
  • Most wallets explicitly reference it in UserOperation.entryPoint

🏡 Local Deployment of EntryPoint

To experiment with ERC-4337 on a local network, you can deploy the EntryPoint contract using the official account-abstraction repository.

This tool uses a fixed create2 salt, so you'll get the same EntryPoint address on your local network as on mainnet-compatible chains — ensuring portability and compatibility with off-the-shelf tooling.

🏗️ Deployment Steps

  1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/eth-infinitism/account-abstraction.git
cd account-abstraction

  2. Add your network RPC
    Edit hardhat.config.ts and add your local RPC under the networks section.

  3. Set your deployer account
    Export the MNEMONIC_FILE environment variable to point to a file containing the mnemonic for your deployer account.

    export MNEMONIC_FILE=./mnemonic.txt

  4. Deploy the contract
    Use Hardhat to deploy to your local network:

    yarn deploy --network NETWORK_NAME

    Replace NETWORK_NAME with the name of your local network as configured in Hardhat.

That’s it — the script handles the create2 deployment mechanics under the hood, ensuring deterministic EntryPoint addresses across environments.

🧠 Summary

The EntryPoint contract is the hub of ERC-4337. It’s not just a dispatcher — it enforces economic rules, ensures permissionless access, and provides the backbone for UX-enhancing features like validation, sponsorship and batching.

By understanding EntryPoint, you understand how smart contract wallets actually run — and how the whole AA stack hangs together.