A technical deep-dive comparing authorization mechanisms across Ethereum, Stellar Soroban, and Solana blockchains, examining how each handles token approvals, fee sponsorship, and cross-contract calls through practical smart contract examples.
This article provides a comprehensive comparison of authorization models across three major blockchains: Ethereum, Stellar Soroban, and Solana. Using simple Counter and Wrapper smart contracts deployed on each chain, the author explores how each blockchain handles authorization at the transaction level. Key scenarios examined include basic contract calls, fee sponsorship (where one account pays for another's transaction), and cross-contract interactions. Stellar's auth field enables flexible partial authorization and invocation trees, Solana's account model requires explicit account listing but inherits permissions across calls, and Ethereum's flat structure necessitates workarounds like EIP-7702 for advanced features. The article reveals why token swaps require two transactions on Ethereum but only one on Stellar and Solana, rooted in fundamental differences in how each chain manages authorization and contract interactions.