Business Development Associate (Developer Ecosystem), Offchain.
BundleBear, parsed 2026-09-11. My arithmetic over its raw series.
ZeroDev already wins where 7702 meets 4337 and on Arbitrum. The volume is elsewhere: Base, BSC and World Chain make up about 85% of weekly smart accounts. So the top of the funnel runs on two tracks. Track one is home turf: Robinhood Chain apps and Arbitrum Open House teams. Track two sources builders anywhere from onchain signals: teams on legacy EntryPoint v0.6 accounts, apps orphaned by Alchemy's embedded-wallet deprecation and Porto's sunset, and new 7702 deployers. The hand-off point to solutions engineering is the first mainnet UserOp.
A chain launch is a short window where every new team picks its account stack at once. Five steps, in order.
| Step | What I would do | Evidence it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Ready on day one | Kernel, the EntryPoints and the 7702 delegate deployed at launch; bundler and paymaster live; a Kernel quickstart in the chain's own docs and starter templates. | Kernel v3.3 is still missing on Gravity, Xai and EDU Chain (readiness check). |
| 2 · Plug into launch programs | Kernel in the workshop track, sponsored-gas credits for the first cohort, a bounty judged on mainnet readiness. | Robinhood Chain committed $1M to Arbitrum Open House teams. |
| 3 · Sell the new-chain problems | Users arrive with no gas token and funds on other chains: lead with gas sponsorship, passkey onboarding and Smart Routing Address deposits. | Smart Routing Address is already pitched to Robinhood Chain apps. |
| 4 · Prospect from chain data | Watch new contract and account deployments and UserOp senders; teams on bare EOAs or legacy accounts get an opener built from their own address. | The AA Stack Scanner (§06). |
| 5 · Case study, then the next wave | The first integration becomes a public case study within 30 days; the next pitches lead with it. | Builders pick vendors from peers' results. |
Measured per chain: teams contacted, Sandbox projects, first mainnet UserOp, weekly active accounts (the funnel in §05).
Acquired by Offchain in August 2025. Sold as the UX layer of Offchain's enterprise stack (Prysm, Arbitrum, ZeroDev), with its own brand, docs and self-serve pricing. The product surface grew fast in 2026:
| Product | What it does | Why a builder cares |
|---|---|---|
| Kernel v4 Jul 2026 | ERC-7579 modular account on EntryPoint v0.9. UUPS, immutable ECDSA and Kernel7702 variants. Permissions = one signer + N policies. | Session keys and modules without a custom account |
| Kernel v3.x | The installed base (v3.0 to v3.3, 2024 to 2025) | Upgrade path for existing users |
| UltraRelay | Bundler + relayer that sponsors gas without a paymaster; claims 30% less gas, 20% lower latency | Cheaper sponsored flows |
| ZeroDev Wallet Jul 2026 | Embedded wallet (email, OAuth, passkeys) that starts from a smart account; signer, account, bundler, paymaster and policy from one vendor | One integration for onboarding |
| Smart Routing Address | Persistent deposit address: fund from any chain or CEX, funds arrive and trigger actions | Solves the first-deposit drop-off |
| Omni SDK, Solana sponsorship | Zig SDK with native bindings (Swift live); SOL fee sponsorship | Mobile and non-EVM reach |
Sources: zerodev.app, docs.zerodev.app, github.com/zerodevapp/kernel, ZeroDev blog (Jul to Sep 2026). Account counts are company-reported.
New ERC-4337 account activations by provider, trailing 12 months (25.97M accounts). This is the share a BD funnel competes for.
| Signal | Reading | What it means for BD |
|---|---|---|
| Arbitrum, 13 weeks | ZeroDev 17.2% of new accounts (Kernel factory 11.7%, 7702 5.5%), the largest labelled provider | Home turf is won; defend it and use it as the reference |
| 7702 accounts sending UserOps | ZeroDev #2 with 15.1% of UserOps, behind Simple7702Account (37.4%) | Strong where 7702 meets 4337; sell Kernel7702 to teams on the bare reference account |
| How 7702 accounts act | Relayed 68%, EOA txn 27%, 4337 UserOp 0.59% | Most 7702 flow skips 4337. UltraRelay's paymaster-free relaying fits that flow |
| Account depth | 48% of weekly accounts send one UserOp; 5.6% send more than 10 | Measure active integrations by repeat UserOps, beyond signups |
| Bundler labels | ZeroDev's bundler does not appear as a named provider; its traffic sits in "Unknown" | ZeroDev's real share is understated in the dashboards builders read |
Source: BundleBear account activation, 7702 and bundler pages, data through the week of 2026-09-07. BundleBear covers 12 chains; shares are my arithmetic over its series.
Three layers compete for the same builder: bundler and paymaster infra, the account itself, and the embedded wallet on top. Several names are also ZeroDev customers.
| Name | Layer | Strength | Where ZeroDev separates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Safe | Account | #1 in new 4337 accounts (22.9%, 12m); default for treasuries and institutions; Safe7579 adapter | App-embedded consumer accounts with native session keys and a simpler integration |
| Coinbase / Base Account | Account + gas | Passkey wallet, free sponsored gas on Base via CDP credits | Chain-neutral; modular policies for the app's own users |
| Pimlico | Bundler, paymaster, SDK | #1 named bundler this week (33.4% of UserOps); account-agnostic; permissionless.js | 8% gas premium vs Pimlico's 10% surcharge; owns the account and wallet layer too. shared lineage ZeroDev's SDK builds on permissionless.js |
| Alchemy | Bundler, account | 797M lifetime UserOps bundled; Modular Account v2; enterprise sales | opening deprecated its embedded wallet and signer in 2026 |
| Biconomy | Account + orchestration | Nexus (7579), MEE multichain execution | Kernel is the longer-running 7579 account in production |
| Rhinestone | Modules + intents | 7579 module registry, Warp cross-chain intents | Full stack vs a layer; a partner as often as a rival |
| MetaMask Smart Accounts Kit | 7702 account | 1.2M live 7702 wallets on its delegator; default for MetaMask users | Serves apps that want their own branded account and wallet |
| thirdweb | All-in-one | Broad free tier, in-app wallets, bridge | Deeper session-key and policy model |
| Privy (Stripe) | Embedded wallet | 75M accounts at acquisition; Stripe distribution; sponsors ETHOnline 2026 | customer Kernel runs under Privy as the signer |
| Dynamic (Fireblocks) | Embedded wallet | Acquired Oct 2025 (~$90M); bank and exchange reach | customer same "Kernel under your signer" motion |
| Openfort | Embedded + backend wallets | Open-source signer; free up to 1,000 MAW | Scale and account maturity. Runs a "ZeroDev alternatives" campaign (§08) |
| Gelato | 7702 SDK + relay | 7702-native SDK, 1Balance gas | Larger account footprint and modular policies |
Pimlico sells rails, Safe sells the vault, Privy and Dynamic sell the login. ZeroDev can sell the account plus the policy layer under any of them, or the whole stack when a team wants one vendor.
Sources: BundleBear; vendor pricing and docs pages; Fireblocks, SiliconANGLE and Bloomberg on the Dynamic and Privy deals.
Each is a list of teams with a reason to talk this quarter.
| Opening | What happened | The motion |
|---|---|---|
| Alchemy embedded-wallet deprecation | Alchemy deprecated its embedded wallet, signer and login methods, and points users to Privy for signing | Offer ZeroDev Wallet, or Kernel under the new Privy signer, with a migration guide |
| Porto sunset | Ithaca announced Porto's sunset on 2026-06-19; funds out by 2026-07-24 | Passkey-first teams need a new account; lead with Kernel passkeys and Kernel7702 |
| Legacy EntryPoint v0.6 | Accounts on v0.6 and non-modular implementations still run in production | Find them onchain (§06) and pitch the Kernel v3 or v4 upgrade |
| ETHOnline 2026 | Privy sponsors; ZeroDev and Arbitrum are absent | Book ETHGlobal Tokyo and Mumbai early |
| Arbitrum's 7702 content | The Arbitrum Foundation's 7702 explainer names viem and Foundry and no wallet vendor | Co-write the Arbitrum AA guide with a Kernel quickstart |
| Robinhood Chain | Mainnet 2026-07-01; ZeroDev live on day one; $1M committed to Open House teams | Be the default account for every Open House team building there |
Sources: Alchemy docs (Account Kit deprecation, Privy signer migration), ithaca.xyz/updates, ethglobal.com ETHOnline 2026 prizes, Arbitrum Foundation blog (7702 explainer, Builder's Block #024), ZeroDev blog.
The posting lists six duties. Each maps to a concrete plan and to the section of this page that backs it.
| JD duty | My plan | Detailed in |
|---|---|---|
| Partner with early-stage builders, convert interest into Kernel integrations | Two-track sourcing (home turf + onchain signals). Conversion defined as the first mainnet UserOp, then repeat UserOps. | §05 |
| Pitch Kernel and modular accounts; show why the current setup falls short | Open every call with the team's own address in the scanner: account type, EntryPoint version, modularity, the specific gap. | §06 |
| Own top of funnel; hand off to sales engineering | Stage definitions with exit criteria; hand-off packet with chain, account type, UserOp volume and the blocker. | §05 |
| Hackathons, demo days, events tied to pipeline | Bounties judged on mainnet readiness; every winner gets a follow-up call within 7 days; tagged in CRM by event. | §09 |
| Source leads on Twitter and Discord in AA conversations | Post weekly onchain reads (who launched, who migrated); watch launch announcements and new factory deployments. | §07 |
| Use AI tools to automate workflows | Claude-driven lead enrichment: address in, scanner result + team + socials + draft opener out, reviewed by me. | §07 |
Each stage has an exit criterion that shows up in data, so the funnel stays honest.
| Source | Where the lead comes from | Qualifier |
|---|---|---|
| Home turf | Robinhood Chain apps, Arbitrum Open House teams, Arbitrum chain operators | Shipping to mainnet within a quarter |
| Onchain | New factory and 7702 delegate deployments; v0.6 accounts; Simple7702Account users | Weekly UserOps above a floor |
| Migration | Alchemy embedded-wallet users, Porto integrators | A deprecation date in their roadmap |
| Hackathons | ETHGlobal, Open House, DoraHacks, HackQuest | Team continuing after the event |
| Social | CT launch posts, AA threads, Discord help channels | Named product with users |
Metrics I would report weekly: qualified leads, Sandbox projects created, first mainnet UserOp, 4-week retained integrations, Launch and Scale conversions.
The JD asks the BD hire to show teams why their current setup falls short. I built a tool that does that from one address.
Links go to an EIP/ERC explorer I built that parses each spec's Solidity interface and computes selectors and interface ids.
| Try it on | What the scanner reports | The BD line |
|---|---|---|
| A SimpleAccount | SimpleAccount on EntryPoint v0.6 on 14 chains; one owner key, no modules | Legacy EntryPoint, no session keys: a Kernel migration lead |
| A Kernel v3.1 account | Kernel v3.1 behind an ERC-1967 proxy on Arbitrum One | Existing customer: in-place upgrade to v3.3 |
| A Coinbase Smart Wallet | Coinbase Smart Wallet v1 on EntryPoint v0.6, non-modular | No app-level policies; pitch app-created Kernel accounts |
| Chain readiness | Kernel v3.3 has no code on Gravity Alpha, Xai or EDU Chain (all Arbitrum chains) | A deployment conversation with each chain team comes before any app integration there |
Built by me for this application. Reads public chain data only across 15 chains (Arbitrum One, Nova, Sepolia, ApeChain, Plume, Gravity, Xai, EDU Chain, Robinhood Chain testnet, Ethereum, Base, OP, Polygon, BNB, Gnosis). It is an independent prototype, unaffiliated with ZeroDev's products. Every scan produces a copyable lead note.
Where the first quarter of pipeline would come from. Each move names the mechanic or gap it relies on, so it can be judged before it is tried.
Alchemy embedded-wallet users and Porto integrators have a forced decision this year. A short migration guide plus a Sandbox credit offer.
Run the scanner over UserOp senders per chain. Teams on v0.6 or non-modular accounts with steady volume become a ranked list with a specific opener.
Open House Singapore (Sept 14 to Oct 4, $415K, a wallet-infrastructure workshop) and Robinhood Chain teams. Kernel as the default account in every starter kit, and current Kernel deployed on every Arbitrum chain (three still lack v3.3).
Prize for the best Kernel7702 or session-key app, with a follow-up call for every finalist. Track event to integration in CRM.
Apps on Privy or Dynamic keep their login and add Kernel policies and session keys. A co-marketed recipe with each signer.
Get UltraRelay and ZeroDev paymasters labelled on BundleBear and Dune. Builders pick vendors from those charts.
Short posts on who launched, who migrated, what the 7702 data says. Every post tags the teams it names, which opens the DM.
A Claude pipeline: address or launch post in; scanner result, team, socials and a drafted opener out. I review and send.
These are the questions that stall a team between Evaluating and Integrated (§05). A BD associate who can answer them on the first call, with facts, moves more teams to a first mainnet UserOp.
| Objection | Answer |
|---|---|
| "Now that Offchain owns it, is it Arbitrum-only?" | ZeroDev committed to staying multichain at the acquisition; 130+ chains listed; Solana gas sponsorship shipped after the deal. |
| "We cannot self-host." | Kernel is open source; UltraRelay is open source; Kernel works with any 4337 bundler. |
| "Pimlico is cheaper and account-agnostic." | 8% gas premium vs a 10% sponsorship surcharge, and the account, policy and wallet layer come with it. |
| "We already use Privy." | Keep Privy as the signer; Kernel adds session keys, policies and batching underneath. |
| "Safe is the standard." | Safe for treasuries and multisig. Kernel for app-embedded consumer accounts; Safe7579 covers teams that need both. |
| "7702 made 4337 pointless." | Kernel7702 keeps the user's address and adds modules; UltraRelay serves relayed 7702 flows without a paymaster. |
Hackathons are the cheapest source of early builders. This is the Q4 calendar I would work, and what each event feeds into the funnel.
| Event | Date | Pipeline role |
|---|---|---|
| Arbitrum Open House Singapore buildathon | Sep 14 to Oct 4 | Wallet-infrastructure workshop; Kernel in the starter kit; Robinhood Chain track |
| ETHGlobal Tokyo | Sep 25 to 27 | Bounty + office hours; APAC teams |
| Open House Singapore Founder House | Early Nov (dates tbc) | In-person with shortlisted teams; move them to Integrated |
| Devcon 8, Mumbai | Nov 3 to 6 | Partner meetings; AA sessions; signer and wallet partners |
| ETHGlobal Mumbai | Nov 6 to 8 | Bounty right after Devcon; finalist follow-ups |
Sources: Arbitrum Foundation blog, ethglobal.com/events, Ethereum Foundation blog.
Milestones the hiring team could hold me to.
Built from the public job posting (2026), ZeroDev and Offchain public pages, GitHub, and BundleBear data parsed on 2026-09-11. Shares over 12-month and 13-week windows are my arithmetic over BundleBear's weekly series. Company-reported figures are labelled. Unsolicited interview homework; happy to walk through any section.
Acquisition: PR Newswire, Aug 2025
Product and pricing: zerodev.app/pricing, docs.zerodev.app
Kernel: github.com/zerodevapp/kernel
Market data: BundleBear
Alchemy deprecation: Alchemy docs
Porto: ithaca.xyz/updates
Open House Singapore: Arbitrum Foundation
Robinhood Chain: Arbitrum blog
Dynamic: Fireblocks · Privy: SiliconANGLE
Independent BD homework for the ZeroDev Business Development Associate role · 2026 · edwardtay.com