What does "approve" mean when I connect a wallet?
It grants a contract standing permission to move a token of yours — often without a limit and until you revoke it.
Signing is not the same as sending. An approval does not move anything at the moment you sign it. It records permission for a specific contract to move a specific token from your address, later, on its own initiative.
Two details make it dangerous. The amount is frequently unlimited by default, meaning every unit you hold now and every unit you ever hold. And it stays valid until you revoke it, so a drain can happen days after you closed the page — including on funds that arrive afterwards.
There is also a version that is not a transaction at all: a signature authorising a transfer to be executed by somebody else. Nothing appears to happen when you sign, which is exactly why it works.
Read what the wallet is asking. An approval names a token and a spender; a transfer names a recipient and an amount.
Wallet drainers and signatures, and the emergency version if it is happening now.
Last checked 19 Oct 2026.