Summary: Keyless APIs replace fragile shared secrets with identity-bound, short‑lived credentials in both Web2 and Web3 stacks—cutting breach liability while lifting conversion through passkeys and account abstraction. With OAuth mTLS/DPoP, HTTP Message Signatures, and EIP‑7702/ERC‑4337 plus USDC gas via Paymasters, enterprises can meet 2025–2026 compliance bars (NIST 800‑63‑4, DORA, eIDAS 2.0) and ship faster.

The Business Case for Keyless APIs: Reducing Liability and Increasing Revenue

Hook — The headache you’re living with

Your APIs—and your onchain interactions—still run on static credentials. CI jobs, mobile apps, partner integrations, even IoT firmware carry long‑lived API keys and seed phrases that are impossible to inventory, rotate, or revoke on deadline. Meanwhile:

Secrets exposure grew again: 23.8M secrets leaked on public GitHub in 2024 (+25% YoY), and 70% of secrets leaked in 2022 were still valid in 2024. Attackers need only one key to bypass all your other controls. (blog.gitguardian.com)
Regulators raised the bar: NIST finalized SP 800‑63‑4 in July/August 2025 (explicitly integrating synced passkeys), DORA became applicable on January 17, 2025, and eIDAS 2.0 requires EU member states to offer a digital identity wallet by 2026. Procurement will ask how your architecture maps to these. (csrc.nist.gov)
Your builders fight UX debt: password resets and seed‑phrase friction tank conversion; passkeys are now mainstream (69% of consumers have at least one, with materially higher sign‑in success). (fidoalliance.org)

Result: missed launch dates, audit findings, revenue lost to empty carts and failed sign‑ins, and a residual risk register full of “rotate keys quarterly” tasks that never complete.

Agitate — The risk you can’t ignore in 2026

“Non‑human identities” (API keys, service accounts, automation tokens) outnumber employees and are routinely unmanaged across Slack, Jira, container images, and Docker registries; even orgs using secrets managers still leaked at ~5.1% in 2024. That’s persistent, material liability. (blog.gitguardian.com)
Compliance clocks are running:
- DORA requires tight third‑party oversight, registers of information, and major‑incident reporting in hours, not days. Breaches from leaked credentials are no longer “bad luck”; they’re governance failures. (eba.europa.eu)
- NIST 800‑63‑4 aligns with passwordless (syncable) authenticators and federation; using long‑lived API keys or passwords where strong, phishing‑resistant options exist looks indefensible in a vendor risk questionnaire. (nist.gov)
- eIDAS 2.0 and the EU Digital Identity Wallet require relying‑party alignment for age, KYC, or attribute proofs—your APIs will need verifiable assertions, not shared secrets. (consilium.europa.eu)
Onchain UX remains the silent killer: needing native gas and seed phrases means abandonment. USDC gas with Paymasters and passkeys remove both frictions; Pectra’s EIP‑7702 (May 7, 2025) made these flows first‑class for EOAs. (circle.com)

Solve — 7Block Labs’ Keyless API methodology

We turn “key sprawl” into identity‑bound, signed, and provable access—across your Web2 APIs and your Web3 stack.

1) Keyless foundation for Web2 APIs (M2M, B2B, device)

Replace bearer keys with sender‑constrained, short‑lived tokens and message‑level proofs.

OAuth 2.1 profile + sender‑constrained tokens:
- mTLS‑bound tokens (RFC 8705) for servers, agents, and critical backends. Certificates bind the access token to the client; replayed tokens are rejected at the TLS layer. (rfc-editor.org)
- DPoP (RFC 9449) for browser/mobile/public clients—application‑layer proof‑of‑possession; adopted by Okta, Auth0, and Keycloak in 2025. (ietf.org)
- Keep current to OAuth 2.1 drafts to phase out legacy flows and align with security BCPs. (ietf.org)
HTTP Message Signatures (RFC 9421) for non‑repudiation of critical API calls (purchase, payout, admin changes) with Ed25519/P‑384—intermediary‑tolerant, standardized, and auditable. (rfc-editor.org)
Workload Identity Federation (no service‑account keys): federate into Google Cloud via STS instead of distributing JSON keys; similarly use IAM Roles Anywhere for AWS. No long‑lived keys on CI or laptops. (docs.cloud.google.com)
mTLS at the edge for devices/legacy: API Shield‑style client certs for IoT/mobile apps where IdP sign‑in doesn’t exist. (developers.cloudflare.com)

What this buys you:

“Token replay blocked by design” (mTLS/DPoP).
Eliminates storage/distribution of static API keys.
Verifiable, per‑request integrity for high‑risk operations (HTTP signatures).

2) Keyless for Web3 — passkeys + account abstraction, without seed phrases

Ship “no‑seed, no‑gas” UX while preserving self‑custody controls.

Passkey sign‑in (WebAuthn/FIDO2) to authorize wallet actions—now mainstream and enterprise‑friendly. Coinbase Smart Wallet/Base document native passkey flows for cross‑device use. (help.coinbase.com)
Account Abstraction in production:
- ERC‑4337 smart accounts + paymasters, session keys, spending limits. (docs.erc4337.io)
- EIP‑7702 (live since May 7, 2025) lets EOAs temporarily behave as smart accounts—so your users keep the same address while you add programmable policy and gas abstraction. (blog.ethereum.org)
Permissions and sessions that Product can reason about:
- EIP‑5792 wallet_sendCalls for batching/sponsorship capabilities discovery. (docs.dynamic.xyz)
- ERC‑7715 wallet_grantPermissions to issue time‑boxed, contract‑scoped permissions (e.g., “up to $25 of ERC‑20 per day to this marketplace”). (eips.ethereum.org)
- Emerging capabilities (e.g., ERC‑7867 flow‑control, ERC‑7682 auxiliary funds) for safer batching/gas handling. (eips.ethereum.org)
USDC Gas via Paymasters (Circle): users pay fees in USDC across major EVMs; EIP‑7702 support extends this to EOAs. Pricing was waived until June 30, 2025; now a 10% surcharge on gas is typical. No more “you need ETH first.” (circle.com)

What this buys you:

Seedless onboarding with passkeys (phishing‑resistant).
One‑click sessions with explicit budgets and expiry.
Fewer abandons because users don’t need native gas.

3) Compliance‑ready controls (2025–2026)

Map authenticators and federation to NIST SP 800‑63‑4: syncable passkeys (AAL2+), phishing‑resistant flows, and federation assertions. (nist.gov)
DORA alignment: eliminate long‑lived secrets, evidence strong access controls, and prepare “major incident” telemetry (JA3/JA4, DPoP thumbprints, mTLS cert hashes) for 4‑hour notifications. (eba.europa.eu)
eIDAS 2.0/EUDI Wallet readiness for 2026 relying‑party use—design APIs to accept verifiable attributes, not screenshots. (consilium.europa.eu)

4) Execution blueprint (90 days)

Week 0–2: Secrets risk census (code, CI, containers, collaboration tools) + “kill list” of high‑blast‑radius keys; set rotation freezes; stand up WIF/assume‑role patterns.
Week 3–6: Flip first M2M integrations to OAuth + mTLS/DPoP; wire HTTP Message Signatures for admin/payout endpoints; enable passkeys in customer auth.
Week 7–10: Pilot ERC‑4337/EIP‑7702 wallet with ERC‑7715 permissions and Circle Paymaster; measure conversion and support tickets.
Week 11–13: Cutover plan (partners, mobile apps, device fleets); deprecate static keys in pipelines; compliance evidence pack for Procurement and Security.

We deliver and harden this through:

Custom integrations via our blockchain integration and web3 development services.
Onchain policy design and audits via our security audit services.
Smart‑account and dApp builds via our smart contract development, dApp development, and DeFi development services.
Cross‑chain user journeys with our cross‑chain solutions development and blockchain bridge development.
Productized platforms (asset tokenization, marketplaces) through our asset tokenization and asset management platform development.

Prove — GTM metrics tied to ROI and procurement checklists

What leaders can measure in quarter one:

Security/Risk
- “Zero long‑lived secrets in CI and app repos” KPI—backed by GitGuardian scans; target 90% reduction in valid leaked secrets within 60 days. The industry backdrop (23.8M leaks in 2024; 70% still active 2 years later) makes this a board‑level win. (blog.gitguardian.com)
- Sender‑constrained tokens in logs (mTLS cert thumbprint or DPoP
```
jkt
```
  ) for replay resistance; HTTP Message Signatures on all payout/admin calls. (rfc-editor.org)
Revenue/Conversion
- Passkey sign‑in uplift: target 20–30% higher successful sign‑ins; benchmarks show large deltas (e.g., >90% success vs ~60–70% for passwords) and broad consumer readiness (69% with at least one passkey). Fewer resets = fewer abandons. (authsignal.com)
- Onchain completion rate: adding USDC gas via Paymaster + one‑click ERC‑7715 permissions cuts “need native token” drop‑offs; Circle reports multi‑chain EVM support and EIP‑7702 compatibility for EOAs. (circle.com)
Opex/Time‑to‑Market
- Remove key rotation/rollout toil: WIF and OAuth device/agent registration reduce ticket volume and “hot potato” rotations every incident. (docs.cloud.google.com)
- Procurement acceleration: Provide mappings to NIST 800‑63‑4 AALs and DORA ICT RMF, cutting back‑and‑forth on security questionnaires. (csrc.nist.gov)

Practical examples you can lift today

Sender‑constrained token (DPoP) for a SPA calling your API:
- Client generates an ephemeral keypair and includes a
```
DPoP
```
  header (signed proof for
```
htm
```
  ,
```
htu
```
  ,
```
iat
```
  , and a nonce if required). Your AS issues a
```
dpop
```
  access token with
```
cnf.jkt
```
  . Resource server verifies both token and per‑request proof. Supported by major IdPs since 2025. (ietf.org)
Certificate‑bound OAuth (RFC 8705) for backend jobs:
- CI runner authenticates with mutual TLS; the AS binds the token to the client cert. Even if the token leaks in logs, it’s unusable without the private key. (rfc-editor.org)
Verifiable API operations with HTTP Message Signatures:
- Sign
```
@method
```
  ,
```
@target-uri
```
  ,
```
date
```
  ,
```
content-digest
```
  , and a business header (e.g.,
```
x-order-id
```
  ) with Ed25519. Keep signature verification artifacts for dispute resolution. (rfc-editor.org)
Passkeys + EIP‑7702 + ERC‑7715 for consumer actions:
- User authenticates with a passkey; wallet issues a 24‑hour session permission: “call Contract X → method Y, daily cap $50 USDC, gas via Paymaster.” The dApp submits a batched
```
wallet_sendCalls
```
  (EIP‑5792); no additional prompts unless budget/time elapses. EOA compatibility via 7702 avoids migrations. (docs.dynamic.xyz)
Gas abstraction via USDC:
- Integrate Circle Paymaster: obtain an EIP‑2612 permit, craft a UserOp, submit to a bundler; Circle covers native gas and charges the user in USDC (fee waived until 06/30/2025; now typically 10% of gas). Supports seven major EVM chains and EOAs post‑7702. (circle.com)
Workload Identity Federation (no JSON keys in CI):
- GitHub Actions OIDC → Google STS → short‑lived access token; or mTLS/X.509 into AWS IAM Roles Anywhere for temporary creds. No key files to leak. (docs.cloud.google.com)
mTLS for devices:
- Provision device client certs; enforce API access only with valid client cert chains (Cloudflare API Shield supports BYO CA for enterprise PKI). (developers.cloudflare.com)

Audience — who this is for (and the words you need in your deck)

CIO / VP Platform Engineering: “OAuth 2.1, RFC 8705 mTLS, RFC 9449 DPoP, RFC 9421 HTTP Message Signatures, OIDC Federation, Workload Identity Federation.”
CISO / Risk: “Sender‑constrained tokens, device‑bound credentials, keyless CI/CD, audit‑grade non‑repudiation, incident telemetry (DPoP
```
jkt
```
, mTLS thumbprints), DORA 4‑hour reporting readiness.”
VP Product / Head of Growth: “Passkey funnels, 93% success rates, one‑click ERC‑7715 sessions, USDC gas abstraction, abandonment reduction.”
Head of Payments/Treasury: “EIP‑7702 smart EOAs, ERC‑4337 paymasters, USDC fee UX, reconciled gas costs, programmable spend caps.”
Procurement / Legal: “NIST SP 800‑63‑4 mapping (AAL2+), DORA ICT RMF controls, eIDAS 2.0 EUDI Wallet reliance model, vendor risk reduction (no static keys).” (csrc.nist.gov)

Why 7Block Labs

We bridge protocol‑level detail with board‑level outcomes. Our teams ship OAuth DPoP/mTLS and HTTP‑signed APIs alongside EVM smart‑account stacks using ERC‑4337/EIP‑7702 and USDC paymasters. Then we hand Procurement a clean 800‑63‑4/DORA evidence pack. Explore our blockchain development services and cross‑chain solutions; when security review starts, we embed our security audit services.

Best emerging practices for 2026 (brief, in‑depth)

Prefer DPoP for public clients, mTLS for server/service and device. Combine with HTTP Message Signatures for critical writes; don’t rely on Bearer tokens alone. (ietf.org)
Kill service‑account keys; implement Workload Identity Federation and role impersonation everywhere. Set org policies that prohibit key creation. (docs.cloud.google.com)
Make passkeys the default; keep fallback paths minimal. Use platform keychains or enterprise passkey managers with recovery, aligning to 800‑63‑4 guidance. (nist.gov)
Standardize smart‑account capabilities exposed to apps via EIP‑5792; manage “power user” flows with ERC‑7715 permissions rather than ad‑hoc session keys. (docs.dynamic.xyz)
For onchain fees, choose USDC gas (Circle Paymaster) for consumer flows; for B2B, sponsor gas with guardrails and ledger the surcharge as COGS. (developers.circle.com)
Align logs with incident obligations: retain DPoP
```
jkt
```
, mTLS cert hashes, HTTP signature metadata, and OAuth token IDs to reconstruct event timelines (DORA major‑incident reporting). (eba.europa.eu)
Ethereum Pectra (Mainnet May 7, 2025) is your justification to prioritize 7702/4337 hybrid wallets now—no address migration required. (blog.ethereum.org)

We’ll architect and implement this end‑to‑end, then train your teams to operate it. See also: custom blockchain development services, blockchain integration, smart contract development, and dApp development.

CTA — If you’re the VP Platform or CISO who owns API risk and conversion this quarter: give us your highest‑risk API and your most‑abandoned onchain flow. In 21 days, we’ll replace static keys with DPoP/mTLS + HTTP signatures, ship passkeys + ERC‑7715 sessions with USDC gas, and hand you a mapped NIST 800‑63‑4/DORA evidence pack—ready for Procurement before your Q2 board meeting.