Why you should revoke old token approvals
Token approvals don't expire. The dapp you used once last year may still be able to move your funds — here's why that matters and how to clean it up.
Here’s a risk most people never think about: the dapps you’ve used can often still move your tokens, long after you’ve stopped using them. Not because they’re malicious — but because of how approvals work.
How approvals work
ERC-20 tokens don’t let a contract take your funds directly. Instead, you grant an allowance: “this contract may move up to X of this token on my behalf.” A swap, a bridge, an NFT marketplace — they all need this to function.
The catch is that, for convenience, most dapps request an unlimited allowance so they never have to ask again. And that allowance:
- doesn’t expire,
- persists after you stop using the dapp, and
- stays exactly as risky as the contract that holds it.
Why that’s a problem
An allowance is only as safe as the contract you granted it to. If that contract is later exploited, upgraded by a malicious admin, or simply had a bug all along, your tokens are reachable — up to the allowance you granted, which is often “all of them.”
You did nothing wrong and your keys were never compromised. The standing permission is the whole attack surface.
A good habit: treat approvals like app permissions on your phone. Grant what you need, and revoke what you no longer use.
How to clean it up
This is exactly what Revoke Approvals is for:
- Open the tool and enter or connect the address you want to inspect.
- Pick the networks to scan. It uses public RPCs and a Multicall fast path, so a sweep takes seconds.
- Review what’s still active — ERC-20 allowances, NFT operator approvals, and Permit2.
- Select the ones you don’t recognize or no longer use, and revoke. With a smart-contract wallet, you can batch several revokes into one signature.
Revoking never moves your funds and can’t damage your balances — it only removes a contract’s permission. If you need that dapp again later, you simply approve again.
A reasonable routine
You don’t need to do this daily. A quick scan every few months, and right after you stop using a dapp, keeps your standing exposure small. Five minutes now beats finding out the hard way later.
Start here: Revoke Approvals →