Token Approvals in Your DeFi Wallet: Reviewing and Revoking Old Permissions
When you use a DeFi protocol for the first time, your wallet usually asks you to approve the contract to spend a token. Many interfaces request an unlimited allowance by default, so you do not need to approve again next time. Convenient, but that permission stays active long after you stop using the protocol. If the contract is later exploited, or you approved a malicious one by mistake, those standing approvals can be used to drain the token from your wallet. Reviewing them is basic custody hygiene.
How approvals work
An approval is a record on the blockchain saying that a specific contract may move up to a stated amount of a specific token from your address. It does not move funds by itself. The risk lies in how long it lasts and how large it is. Unlimited approvals remain until you revoke them, and they apply to the token balance you hold at any time in the future, not just today. Signature-based permits, which some newer tokens support, can grant a similar allowance through a message you sign rather than a transaction, so read every signature request as carefully as an approval.
Review your current approvals
Use a reputable approval checker or the approval view built into some wallets and block explorers. Connect in read mode or paste your public address, choose the network and view the list of contracts with active allowances and their amounts. Look for protocols you no longer use, unfamiliar contract names and any allowance marked unlimited.
Revoke what you do not need
For each approval you want to remove, choose revoke. This sends a transaction that sets the allowance to zero, so you need a small amount of the network's gas token. Confirm the transaction details in your wallet before signing, checking that it is a revoke and not another approval. Repeat on each network you use. Revoking from a cold wallet or hardware device works the same way and is worth doing if that device ever approved a contract.
Approve more carefully next time
When a protocol asks for an approval, edit the amount in your wallet to match what you intend to use, where the wallet allows it. Keep long-term holdings in a separate wallet that never connects to DeFi, and move only what you need to the active wallet. Funds held on Binance, OKX, Bybit or Bitget are not affected by wallet approvals, but anything withdrawn to your own wallet is.
Risk boundary: DeFi Protocol Guide
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Scenario checkpoint
- Check active token approvals for your address on every network you have used.
- Revoke unlimited allowances for protocols you no longer use or do not recognise.
- Keep some gas token available so revoke transactions can actually be submitted.
- Edit approval amounts to match intended use and keep savings in a separate wallet.