This guide will teach you how to view a list of all smart contracts you have allowed access to your funds and how to cancel them.Sometimes malicious developers build backdoors into smart contracts that allow access to the funds of unaware users who interact with the smart contract. What often happens is that such platforms ask the user for permission to spend an unlimited number of tokens in an attempt to save small amounts of gas in the future, but this comes with increased risk.Once a platform has unlimited access rights to a token on your wallet, they can spend all those tokens even if you have withdrawn your funds from their platform into your wallet.
Malicious actors can still access your funds and withdraw them into their wallets with no recovery option left for you.The only protections are to refrain from using untested new projects, only approve what you need, or regularly revoke access. So, how do you do that?
Step 1: Use revoke access toolsSeveral websites let you view and revoke smart contracts connected to your address. Visit the website and connect your wallet:Ethallowanceopens in a new tab (Ethereum)Etherscanopens in a new tab (Ethereum)Blockscoutopens in a new tab (Ethereum)Cointoolopens in a new tab (multiple networks)Revokeopens in a new tab (multiple networks)Unrektopens in a new tab (multiple networks)EverRevokeopens in a new tab (multiple networks)
Step 2: Connect your walletOnce you are on the website, click on “Connect wallet”. The website should prompt you to connect your wallet.Make sure you use the same network in your wallet and website. You will only see smart contracts related to the network selected. For example, if you connect to Ethereum Mainnet, you will only see Ethereum contracts, not contracts from other chains such as Polygon.
Step 3: Select a smart contract you wish to revokeYou should see all the contracts that are allowed access to your tokens and their spending limit. Find the one you wish to terminate.If you do not know which contract to choose, you can revoke all of them. It won’t create any problems for you, but you will have to grant a new set of permissions the next time you interact with any of these contracts.
Step 4: Revoke access to your fundsOnce you click on revoke, you should see a new transaction suggestion in your wallet. This is to be expected. You will have to pay the fee for the cancellation to be successful. Depending on the network this can take from a minute to several to be processed.We advise you to refresh the revoking tool after a few minutes and connect your wallet again to double check if the revoked contract has disappeared from the list.