TLDR
- Changpeng Zhao urges wallets to check and block poisoned addresses to prevent scams.
- Address poisoning scams cost victims millions; CZ calls for stricter security measures.
- Binance’s algorithm has identified 15 million poisoned addresses to combat phishing.
- Scam Sniffer data reports over $7.7 million lost to phishing in just November 2024.
In the wake of a $50 million loss due to an address poisoning scam, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), co-founder of Binance, has proposed new security measures aimed at addressing this rising threat in the cryptocurrency space. Address poisoning is a phishing technique in which scammers use small transactions to trick users into sending funds to malicious addresses.
CZ SAYS POISONING ADDRESS ATTACKS CAN BE "ERADICATED" WITH THE USE OF BLACKLISTS pic.twitter.com/W7eDPfIgil
— That Martini Guy ₿ (@MartiniGuyYT) December 24, 2025
Zhao’s proposal comes after a recent report showed that phishing scams, including address poisoning, have become one of the most damaging types of crypto scams. These scams cost victims millions of dollars in losses.
Address Poisoning Scam Grows as a Major Crypto Threat
Address poisoning scams have been increasingly problematic, particularly for users who copy and paste wallet addresses from their transaction history. Scammers initiate the attack by sending small amounts of cryptocurrency to a user’s wallet. The victim then unknowingly uses this wallet address for subsequent transactions, sending large sums of money to the scammer’s address.
The recent incident in which a single victim lost $50 million in USDT highlighted the severity of this issue. According to Scam Sniffer data, over 6,300 victims lost a total of $7.7 million to phishing scams in November alone, and the number is expected to rise in December.
Someone just lost ~$50M to an address-poisoning scam.
This wasn’t a careless copy-paste mistake. It was automated, targeted, and designed to exploit how most wallets work.
Here’s what happened and how teams paying in stablecoins can avoid it
— Paynest (@Paynest_) December 20, 2025
Phishing scams have been labeled as one of the most damaging threats in the cryptocurrency world for 2024. Security experts have pointed out that the address poisoning tactic has emerged as a particularly effective method for attackers.
Binance’s Algorithm and Address Blacklist
In response to the growing risks of address poisoning, Binance’s security team has developed an algorithm capable of identifying potentially poisoned addresses. This system has already flagged over 15 million addresses. Zhao encourages the broader blockchain industry to implement similar mechanisms, including blacklisting known scam addresses to help prevent users from inadvertently sending funds to malicious wallets.
Zhao’s proposed changes include adding checks within wallets to verify if an address is a “poison address” before completing a transaction. If the address is flagged, the wallet would block the transaction or warn the user. In addition, Zhao has suggested that wallets should filter out small, spam-like transactions to reduce the likelihood of users copying malicious addresses.
Future Security Measures and Community Response
As part of his proposal, Zhao also emphasizes that wallets should stop displaying small, irrelevant transactions in user histories. This step would minimize the chance of users accidentally copying an address associated with a scam.
The cryptocurrency community has seen an increasing number of responses to phishing, with some security firms offering browser and wallet-based tools designed to warn users about malicious websites and suspicious approvals. However, Zhao’s emphasis on proactive address filtering and blacklisting suggests a more comprehensive approach to preventing address poisoning.
While the industry works on improving security measures, Zhao’s call for a unified response to phishing and address poisoning aims to reduce the number of victims falling prey to these scams. By implementing tools that automatically flag potentially malicious addresses, Zhao hopes the blockchain ecosystem will be better protected in the future.
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