You clicked "Disconnect" in a DApp, and the address in the top right corner disappeared—you feel safe. But to be honest, those "approvals" are still on-chain and have nothing to do with whether you disconnected. Disconnecting only stops the DApp from seeing your address. The permissions it already received to "spend your funds" have not been reduced by even one.
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I have seen someone disconnect their wallet, and two months later that DApp was hacked. The hacker followed the on-chain records and found the unlimited approval the person had previously granted, then directly transferred away the USDT in their wallet. The person had no idea what happened because there was no new signature record in the wallet.
Disconnecting vs Revoking Approval: Two Completely Different Things
Disconnecting: This only cuts off the "communication channel" between you and the DApp. The DApp can no longer see your public address or the assets in your wallet. But the permissions it already received are still there.
Revoking approval: This sends a transaction on-chain to change the "token spending permission" you previously gave to a smart contract back to 0. Only after doing this can the contract no longer move your funds.
| Action | Actual Effect | On-Chain Trace Left |
|---|---|---|
| Disconnect | Cuts off communication, DApp cannot see your address | Approval record still exists, permission unchanged |
| Revoke approval | Removes the contract's permission to move your assets | Sends an on-chain transaction and sets the allowance to 0 |
So What Is Disconnecting Useful For?
Disconnecting is mainly to prevent someone else using your computer from opening the same DApp and directly seeing your address and balance. It helps with privacy, but it does not help with fund security. What you really need to revoke is the approval, not the connection.
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How to Check and Revoke Approvals
Find out which DApps or contracts you have approved, and remove the ones you no longer need. The steps are as follows:
- Open Revoke.cash (this is the most commonly used approval management tool and supports Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, and other major networks)
- Click "Connect Wallet" and connect with your wallet
- The page will automatically list all active token approvals for your current wallet address on that network, including: the approval target (Spender contract address) and the approval amount (Unlimited means unlimited allowance)
- Find the approvals you do not recognize or no longer use, and click the "Revoke" button next to them
- Your wallet will pop up a transaction that requires a gas fee (for example, on the Ethereum mainnet the current gas price may range from a few dollars to more than ten dollars). Confirm and send it.
After the transaction is confirmed on-chain, the approval record will disappear from the Revoke.cash page or its status will change to revoked. At that point the contract will no longer be able to move your tokens.
High-risk warning: If you find an address in the Spender column that you do not recognize and that you never actively interacted with, it is very likely that you mistakenly signed a phishing contract. Revoke it immediately without hesitation.
