What Is an EOA?
An EOA, externally owned account, is the ordinary Ethereum account: one private key, one nonce, one ETH balance. MetaMask, a Ledger Ethereum account, a paper key, those are EOAs. The opposite is a contract account, code that holds assets and only moves them when its rules say so. Account abstraction is the project of making the second kind feel like the first.
How It Actually Works
- Only an EOA can pay gas and start a transaction. Contracts do not wake up on their own. Someone with a key pokes them.
- If you lose the key, the EOA is a brick. There is no guardian, no passkey rotation, no support desk. That simplicity is the security model and the failure mode.
- Token balances live in other contracts and point at your EOA address. The ETH is in the account. The USDC is a line in the USDC ERC-20.
Risks and Common Mistakes
- One key, unlimited approvals. An EOA that signs a drainer is empty. Simulation wallets help; they do not add a second key.
- Sending ERC-20 to a contract that cannot spend it, or ETH to a contract with no withdraw function. EOAs can always spend their ETH. Contracts cannot always.
When It Matters
Every normal wallet, and any time a new app says "smart account" without saying what happens if the vendor disappears. The Security page assumes you are on an EOA unless you chose otherwise.
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