The Hidden Danger in Your Wallet: Token Approvals Exposed

Your crypto wallet's silent killer just got exposed—and it's not what you think.

Token approvals: The invisible backdoor draining your funds while you sleep.

How this works: Every time you connect to a dApp, you grant spending permissions that never expire. Hackers love this feature—it's like leaving your bank vault unlocked with a welcome sign.

The scary part: Most users approve unlimited access without reading the fine print. One malicious contract can wipe out your entire portfolio in seconds.

Revoke those permissions now—before someone else does it for you.

Because in crypto, the only thing more volatile than prices is your security—and Wall Street bankers are laughing all the way to their FDIC-insured accounts.

The Invisible Risk Lurking in Your Wallet

Token approvals are one of the most overlooked threats in Web3. Every time you connect your wallet and authorize a dApp to access your tokens, you’re often granting indefinite access. Over time, these approvals accumulate quietly in the background. Most users don’t even know they exist, and in fact, over $475M stolen since 2020 in reported approval hacks and exploits according to Revoke. This is more than a technical gap in our eyes. It’s more of a UX failure and a security blind spot, and for the next wave of users entering Web3, it’s a risk they shouldn’t have to carry.

Leading on safety is a Core responsibility for any wallet provider—and with over 15 million monthly active users and more than 200 million downloads, it’s a responsibility Trust Wallet fully embraces. Fixing the token approvals problem is part of that commitment, ensuring stronger protection for everyone who relies on us and helping to build a safer Web3 ecosystem.

Why Infinite Approvals Became the Norm

When you use a decentralized application (dApp), it can’t MOVE your tokens unless you give permission through atransaction. Approvals let a smart contract spend your tokens on your behalf. Most dApps ask forso you don’t have to approve every time. Once granted, these approvals stay active on-chain until you revoke them.

This convenience comes at a cost: token approvals are silent, permanent, and risky by default. Users give dApps unlimited access without realizing it. Wallets rarely show or explain these permissions. Attackers exploit them—often long after the approval is granted.

How Approval Risk Builds Over Time

Real-world threats often follow these patterns. A malicious actor may trick you into granting unlimited approval to a harmful contract. You might see no issue if your wallet is empty at the time. Later, when you deposit funds, the contract instantly drains them. Or, a once-trusted contract becomes compromised, turning a SAFE permission into a dangerous vulnerability.

Even more concerning is that in most wallets today, it’s not easy to view or manage token approvals. The average user WOULD struggle to find out which contracts have access to their assets, let alone assess which ones are high-risk.

The Opportunity: Native Tools, Built the Right Way

Most wallets lack a native, user-friendly interface to review and manage token approvals. Some rely on third-party tools or bury permissions DEEP in settings—if at all. As a result, users are often unaware of which contracts have ongoing access.

At Trust Wallet, we recognize the gap—and we’re working to close it. That’s why token approval management is on our roadmap for Q4 of this year: built to scale, designed with care, and released with security-first precision. Our vision is for a smart, user-centric dashboard that simplifies complex blockchain permissions into clear, actionable insights.

How EIP-7702 Helps Reduce Approval Risk

Reducing the number of approvals a user needs to make can be just as important as managing them well. EIP-7702 is designed to help with this by allowing the wallet to simulate and pre-approve all necessary actions in one secure session. You sign once, and the relayer handles both the approval and the intended transaction in the background.

• The wallet simulates all required approvals and transactions.
• The user signs one session intent.
• Both the approval and the action are executed together.
• Fewer “approve” pop-ups, fewer lingering unlimited approvals.

Put short, 7702 streamlines UX while reducing the need for risky, permanent permissions.

Rethinking Approval Hygiene as Everyday UX

Keeping token approvals under control should feel as natural as other routine checks people make to stay secure online. The process works best when it’s integrated into normal wallet use, rather than left as a separate task the user has to remember.

Trust Wallet is building features to make this maintenance easy: unobtrusive reminders to review active approvals, visual cues for contracts that may be risky or outdated, options to automatically expire access after inactivity, and a dashboard that clearly lists every active permission in one place. When these safeguards are part of the regular flow, users can stay protected without extra effort.

Wallets as Guardians, Not Just Interfaces

Token approvals are one piece of a bigger question: how can wallets do more to protect users?

At Trust Wallet, security is embedded into everything we build. Our Security Scanner proactively detects known scams and malicious contracts, blocking dangerous approvals and dApp connections before they happen. Since 2023, we’ve blocked over $458 million from reaching malicious contracts and helped recover $2 million+ in stolen funds.

We were the first major self-custody wallet to achieve ISO/IEC 27001 and 27701 certification, meeting internationally recognized standards for security and privacy.

The same principle will guide our token approval tools: protection that’s built-in, not bolted on.

Looking Ahead: Building for the Next 200 Million

Our responsibility goes beyond maintaining what we’ve already built — it’s about preparing for the next wave of Web3 users and the challenges they’ll face. That means continuing to roll out features that remove friction and strengthen safety, such as better defaults and smarter automation, biometric login in our Extension, cross-chain simplicity with FlexGas so gas can be paid in tokens users already hold etc.

With everything we’ve covered, it goes without saying that one of the most important developments on the horizon is our native token approval management. This will give every user a clear view of which contracts can access their tokens, highlight potential risks, and make revoking or adjusting permissions fast and simple. When paired with our other security and usability advances, it will help ensure that millions more people can explore Web3 with much more confidence.

This approach goes into our view that wallets aren’t just tools, they’re essentially Web3 companions. They should abstract complexity, surface risks, and enable opportunity without compromising on a user’s safety.

Closing Thoughts

Token approvals shouldn’t be invisible, permanent, or the reason users lose funds. With smarter tools, safer defaults, and built-in protections, we can make this risk a thing of the past. At Trust Wallet, we’re building for today’s users and the next 200 million—because with that scale comes a responsibility to lead.

Stay tuned. A safer, smarter wallet experience is on its way.