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An ERC-4337 paymaster can let a user submit an eligible transaction without holding the network’s native gas token: a sponsor agrees to pay the fee from its own balance deposited with the EntryPoint. The user’s assets are not transferred to the sponsor for this purpose, but the arrangement is not free or trustless—the sponsor funds the gas, chooses which operations to accept, and relies on the EntryPoint, bundler, and often an off-chain service.
What a paymaster pays—and what “gasless” means
In ERC-4337, a paymaster is the party that agrees to cover gas for selected UserOperations. The EntryPoint charges the paymaster’s deposit for the gas costs of an accepted sponsored operation; the user account’s deposit is not used to pay those costs in this flow. The sponsor therefore needs operating funds even though it does not need custody of the user’s wallet assets. ERC-4337’s specification states that the EntryPoint charges UserOperation costs from the paymaster’s deposit, which is separate from its locked stake.
“Gasless” is user-relative: the user may not need native ETH at the moment of use, but the network fee still exists and someone pays it. With third-party sponsorship, the sponsor bears the cost for operations it accepts. In a token-fee arrangement, the user pays an economic fee in a supported token instead. Those are different models.
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- The account creates and authorizes a UserOperation. The wallet constructs the operation, and the user’s smart account applies its own authorization rules. Sponsorship does not replace the user’s authorization.
- Sponsorship data identifies the paymaster. The operation includes paymaster data used in validation. A paymaster service may provide data or authorization for an eligible operation.
- The EntryPoint validates the sponsor. It checks that the paymaster has enough deposit to cover the operation and calls
validatePaymasterUserOpto determine whether the sponsor accepts it. - The operation executes and gas is accounted to the sponsor. For an accepted operation, the EntryPoint charges the paymaster’s deposit rather than the user account’s deposit.
- An optional post-operation callback runs. If validation returned context, the EntryPoint may call
postOpafter the main execution.
Because validation and post-operation handling are sensitive, a paymaster contract should restrict these functions to calls from its intended EntryPoint. Implementations also need to confirm the relevant EntryPoint deployment and version; interfaces and gas fields can vary by version. OpenZeppelin’s paymaster guidance discusses the EntryPoint-only access pattern and the separate funding requirement.
Three balances and roles to keep separate
| Item | What it does | Who controls or bears it |
|---|---|---|
| User assets | Remain in the user’s wallet or account; sponsorship does not require the paymaster to take custody of them. | The user retains control subject to the account’s authorization rules. |
| Paymaster deposit | Spendable operating capital held with the EntryPoint and charged for sponsored gas. | The sponsor funds it and bears accepted operation costs. If it runs out, intended sponsorship can fail. |
| Paymaster stake | A distinct locked balance associated with reputation and storage-access rules. | The paymaster locks it. It is not the gas balance; the specification describes an unstake delay and says the stake is not slashed under the described mechanism. |
Confusing deposit with stake creates a misleading picture of the sponsor’s obligations. The deposit pays transaction costs; the stake serves a separate protocol role and is locked rather than used as the routine gas pool.
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Where trust and operational risk remain
The sponsor’s policy
The sponsor decides which senders, calls, chains, and costs it will accept. A verifying paymaster can use an off-chain signer to authorize particular operations; OpenZeppelin’s example illustrates signature-based authorization. That policy and signer service are part of the trust model: sponsorship can be refused or constrained even when the user has signed the operation.
The EntryPoint and bundler path
Paymaster validation and post-operation functions should only accept calls from the intended EntryPoint. ERC-4337 also describes repeated bundler validation and reputation mechanisms intended to reduce denial-of-service risks from entities that invalidate operations. These protections do not guarantee that every operation is safe, eliminate smart-contract risk, or prevent the sponsor’s deposit from being spent on operations it accepts. The ERC-4337 specification describes the validation and reputation mechanisms.
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The service, funding, and chain dependencies
A paymaster web service may return stub data for gas estimation and later provide data used for the actual operation. ERC-7677 recommends rejecting ineligible requests early. That can reduce wasted work, but sponsorship can still stop if the service is unavailable, changes its policy, or cannot produce the required authorization. ERC-7677 describes the paymaster web-service interface and early rejection recommendation.
For a production setup, confirm the chain, EntryPoint version, wallet and bundler support, service behavior, and deposit monitoring and refill process. A funded contract alone is not enough if the off-chain sponsorship path cannot respond.
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How sponsorship differs from paying gas in a token
| Model | Who economically pays | What “gasless” means to the user |
|---|---|---|
| Third-party paymaster sponsorship | The sponsor pays accepted operation costs from its EntryPoint deposit. | The user may not need native gas currency and may pay no gas fee directly, depending on the sponsor’s policy. |
| Token-paid gas | The user pays a fee in a supported token through a token-payment mechanism. | The user avoids holding the native gas token, but is not receiving a subsidy. |
Circle’s Paymaster product page describes USDC gas payments and distinguishes that product from Gas Station, where developers sponsor users’ gas. The page lists support for Arbitrum, Avalanche, Base, Ethereum, OP Mainnet, Polygon PoS, and Unichain; USDC only; and ERC-4337 smart accounts and EIP-7702 EOAs under its stated prerequisites. It also states that service is currently free of charge and that a 10% end-user gas fee per transaction begins July 1, 2025. These are changeable product terms, so check Circle’s live documentation for current chain support, prerequisites, and fees before relying on them.
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What to check before relying on sponsorship
- Eligibility: Which accounts, calls, senders, chains, and cost limits qualify?
- Funding: Is the paymaster’s EntryPoint deposit monitored, and who refills it when needed?
- Authorization: Does approval depend on a signer or web service, and what happens when it is unavailable?
- Compatibility: Do the wallet, bundler, service, chain, and deployed EntryPoint version support the same interface and gas fields?
- Failure behavior: Can the user still proceed another way if sponsorship is rejected or the sponsor runs out of funds?
- Fee disclosure: Does “gasless” mean sponsor-funded, or does the user pay in a token or another asset?
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