Address poisoning protection: The lesson from 50 million USDT lost

A serious incident highlighted users’ vulnerability to address poisoning attacks. Nearly $50 million in USDT was diverted to malicious wallets due to a simple mistake when copying an address.

What is address poisoning?

It is a sophisticated strategy where criminals create wallet addresses that mimic those you regularly use. These fraudulent accounts appear naturally in your transaction history, creating a false sense of familiarity and trust. When you quickly copy an address, you are at high risk of sending funds to the wrong address without realizing it.

How did this attack work?

The case of the $50 million in USDT is exemplary: a user copied what they believed was a legitimate address, but it had been previously “poisoned” with prior transactions. When pasted into the recipient field, no alert was triggered. The transfer was confirmed, and the funds instantly disappeared into addresses controlled by scammers.

Essential measures to protect yourself

Strict address verification: Before any transaction, check the full address character by character, not just the first and last digits.

Use of whitelists: Platforms that allow whitelisting dramatically reduce the risk. Add trusted destination addresses and only use these for future transactions.

Direct copying from original sources: Obtain addresses directly from official wallets, authorized websites, or verified generators. Avoid copying from chats, emails, or messages from third parties.

Test transactions: For large amounts, send a small initial amount and confirm receipt before transferring the full balance.

Address poisoning remains one of the most silent and costly threats in the crypto ecosystem. The $50 million lost serves as an urgent reminder: security responsibility ultimately rests in the hands of the user.