EIP‑7702 Upgrade Enables Smart‑Contract Features for Standard Wallets, Used in $6.4 B Binance Hack

EIP‑7702, activated with the Pectra upgrade on May 7 2025, lets externally owned accounts temporarily adopt smart‑contract code via a "set code" transaction. The transaction records a signed delegation to a contract, after which the account runs that contract’s code with full access to its funds until a new delegation is signed. In October 2026, attackers exploited this feature to convert a Binance hot‑wallet into a malicious contract and drained roughly $6.4 billion across ten chains in about 20 minutes, a theft attributed to North Korean actors. The incident demonstrates how a protocol upgrade intended to enhance wallet flexibility can be weaponised when combined with sophisticated attack vectors.