Darius Baruo
Jul 15, 2025 04:32
Explore how Sui’s PTBs and Ethereum’s EIP-7702 are revolutionizing transaction composability, streamlining user experiences, and addressing computational inefficiencies in decentralized applications.
As decentralized applications (dApps) evolve, the complexity of on-chain transactions grows, often requiring users to perform multiple steps to complete a single action. This can lead to inefficient transaction processing and user friction. To address these challenges, both Sui and Ethereum have introduced solutions aimed at enhancing composability in blockchain transactions. According to the Sui Foundation, these solutions are Sui’s Programmable Transaction Blocks (PTBs) and Ethereum’s EIP-7702.
EIP-7702: A New Era for Ethereum
Ethereum’s EIP-7702, unveiled during the recent Pectra upgrade, allows an externally owned account (EOA) to function like a smart contract account within a single transaction. This capability enables users to batch multiple actions or have others pay gas fees, previously requiring the creation of separate smart contract wallets. While EIP-7702 opens up new transaction flows using Ethereum’s existing architecture, it involves trade-offs, including increased complexity for developers and potential backward compatibility issues.
Despite these challenges, EIP-7702 enhances Ethereum’s account abstraction framework, providing developers with more flexibility. However, it still operates within Ethereum’s account-based model, which can limit the potential for composability compared to newer systems.
Programmable Transaction Blocks: Sui’s Approach
In contrast, Sui’s PTBs offer native composability at the protocol level. This allows developers to bundle up to 1,024 actions into a single atomic transaction, enabling parallel execution of non-conflicting actions and significantly improving throughput. This approach reduces reliance on external relayers and lowers the barrier for developers to create efficient applications without sacrificing performance or security.
The PTBs’ object-centric model ensures transaction logic is tied to object ownership, enhancing safety and reducing potential bugs. This enables developers to build complex, multi-step applications that are seamless for users.
Comparative Design Philosophies
Ethereum’s EIP-7702 and Sui’s PTBs reflect different approaches to enhancing blockchain composability. EIP-7702 represents Ethereum’s evolutionary philosophy, improving flexibility while maintaining compatibility with its existing network. However, this approach introduces complexity and requires additional tooling to achieve functionality available by default in newer systems like Sui.
Sui’s PTBs, by integrating composability into the core protocol, provide a streamlined developer experience with predictable behavior. This design choice facilitates the creation of expressive applications and smooth user interactions, paving the way for high-frequency, high-complexity strategies across various sectors, including DeFi and gaming.
The Future of Blockchain Composability
As blockchain applications continue to grow in complexity, the ability to efficiently compose and execute logic becomes increasingly important. EIP-7702 demonstrates Ethereum’s capacity for evolution, but also its architectural constraints. In contrast, Sui’s PTBs offer a robust, purpose-built model for future application needs, optimizing on-chain coordination by making multi-action transactions simple, safe, and scalable.
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