What is Externally Owned Account (EOA)?

An Externally Owned Account (EOA) serves as a means for storing and transferring ETH, ERC-20 tokens, and various digital assets. An EOA is generated from a public key and is secured by a private key:

• Public key: This is a 20-byte hexadecimal identifier, such as 0x0000000000000000000000000000000000000001. It is derived from the Ethereum network address and used for identifying the account during transactions.

• Private key: Essentially the EOA's password or seed phrase, the private key is used for signing transactions and is exclusively known to the account owner.

The legitimacy of transactions from an EOA is not determined by code or smart contract logic. Provided the private key is known, the account owner has the capability to execute any transaction. This process is contingent upon the verification of the user’s signature and nonce.

Sources: Ethereum, ERC4337.io, Alchemy