LibraryPrivacy2025Design paperCorpus record
Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock
ERC 7994. Anushka Yadav , Akash Kothawade , Atishek Singh.
ERC 7994, Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock. This ERC extends the concept introduced in [ERC-7291] by enabling [ERC-20]-compatible tokens to carry multi-condition unlocking constraints, combining temporal, identity, and usage restrictions into a programmable structure.
Status in the source: Final. A reading of the public specification, not a copy of it and not a certification.
Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock is worth reading for the rule it actually adds: This ERC extends the concept introduced in [ERC-7291] by enabling [ERC-20]-compatible tokens to carry multi-condition unlocking constraints, combining temporal, identity, and usage restrictions into a programmable structure.
The five-minute read
The rule
This ERC extends the concept introduced in [ERC-7291] by enabling [ERC-20]-compatible tokens to carry multi-condition unlocking constraints, combining temporal, identity, and usage restrictions into a programmable structure.
What was already failing
A signature that does not commit to what the user saw can be replayed into a different spend, a different chain, or a different message.
What the number does not mean
The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
What a builder should be able to point at
An implementation either constrains KYC, NGO, MUST or it is a different design.
One action, walked through
- Open ERC 7994 and read the status line before the examples.
- Write down the rule in one sentence. A fair version of that sentence is: This ERC extends the concept introduced in [ERC-7291] by enabling [ERC-20]-compatible tokens to carry multi-condition unlocking constraints, combining temporal, identity, and usage restrictions into a programmable structure.
- Name the object that changes: KYC, NGO, MUST.
- Ask what an old client, an old contract, or an offline counterparty does. If the document is silent, the silence is part of the design.
The argument, unpacked
What the text is allowed to settle
Ethereum Request for Comment 7994 can settle the shape of Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock. It cannot settle whether a later client, a later fork, or a later wallet still does this.
What this page will not pretend
There is no benchmark, no adoption number, and no claim that the mechanism is safe outside the assumptions written in the source.
What has to be true
- You are implementing ERC 7994 at the status the text itself states: Final.
- The object that has to change is KYC, NGO, MUST. A neighbouring document with a similar name is not this one.
- Wallet support is not the same as consensus validity.
What happened after the paper
The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it. Later documents can narrow, replace, or ignore this one. Cite the number you mean.
What to check before you use the idea
- What is covered by the signed bytes in Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock?
- Can the same signature be replayed on another chain, account, or message?
- Which primitive does the text require: KYC, NGO, MUST?
Terms
- ERC 7994
- The public text titled Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock.
- Final
- The document's own label for how finished the text is. It is not a market fact.
The problem the paper names
A signature that does not commit to what the user saw can be replayed into a different spend, a different chain, or a different message.
What the design proposes
- This ERC extends the concept introduced in [ERC-7291] by enabling [ERC-20]-compatible tokens to carry multi-condition unlocking constraints, combining temporal, identity, and usage restrictions into a programmable structure.
- It aims to support controlled disbursement of tokens where funds are only accessible under predefined, auditable, and verifiable conditions.
- ERC-7291 introduced purpose-bound money by restricting how and where tokens can be spent.
How the mechanism is specified
- Taken from the specification, the next constraint is: It aims to support controlled disbursement of tokens where funds are only accessible under predefined, auditable, and verifiable conditions.
- Locate KYC, NGO, MUST in ERC 7994 and apply it to one transaction or call.
- Then check the failure the class of rule always has: a node that did not upgrade, a reverted call, a replayed signature, or a peer that does not speak the message.
What this page does not treat as proven
- A signature scheme is not a privacy system. It hides the signer only if the protocol says so.
- Wallet support is not the same as consensus validity.
- The source marks this final. That is a statement about the text, not a promise that every wallet or node has shipped it.
Why a venture studio still reads it
Use ERC 7994 when a pitch says 'Purpose-Bound ERC-20 with Conditional Unlock' without saying whether the rule is consensus, policy, or an interface. The number is the citation. The pitch is not.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.
