Overview
A paymaster is a service that pays gas fees on behalf of users in account abstraction, enabling sponsored transactions. It removes the need for users to hold gas currency. Paymasters can be businesses or protocols.
How It Works
In ERC-4337, a paymaster contract covers the gas cost of a user operation, often in exchange for a fee or to support onboarding. This lets users interact without holding native tokens. Paymasters also enable token-based gas payment.
Why It Matters
Paymasters remove a major onboarding barrier: holding gas currency. They enable frictionless, subsidized experiences and business models. They are central to account abstraction adoption.
Related Concepts
Paymasters are part of Account Abstraction and ERC-4337, enabling Sponsored Transactions and Gasless experiences. They relate to Bundlers.