Key takeaways

• Address poisoning exploits behavior, not private keys. Attackers manipulate transaction history and rely on users mistakenly copying a malicious lookalike address.

• Cases such as the 50-million-USDT loss in 2025 and the 3.5 wBTC drain in February 2026 demonstrate how simple interface deception can lead to massive financial damage.

• Copy buttons, visible transaction history and unfiltered dust transfers make poisoned addresses appear trustworthy within wallet interfaces.

• Because blockchains are permissionless, anyone can send tokens to any address. Wallets typically display all transactions, including spam, which attackers use to plant malicious entries.

Most crypto users believe that their funds stay secure as long as their private keys are protected. However, as a rising number of scams show, this is not always the case. Scammers have been using an insidious tactic, address poisoning, to steal assets without ever accessing the victim’s private key.

In February 2026, a phishing scheme targeted a Phantom Chat feature. Using an address poisoning tactic, attackers successfully drained roughly 3.5 Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC), worth more than $264,000.

In 2025, a victim lost $50 million in Tether’s USDt (USDT) after copying a poisoned address. Such incidents have highlighted how poor interface design and everyday user habits can result in massive losses.

Prominent crypto figures like Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao have publicly urged wallets to add stronger safeguards following address poisoning incidents.

This article explains how address poisoning scams exploit user behavior rather than private key theft. It details how attackers manipulate transaction history, why the tactic succeeds on transparent blockchains and what practical steps users and wallet developers can take to reduce the risk.

What address poisoning really involves

Unlike traditional hacks that target private keys or exploit code flaws, address poisoning manipulates a user’s transaction history to deceive them into sending funds to the wrong address.

Usually, the attack proceeds in the following way:

1. Scammers identify high-value wallets via public blockchain data.

2. They create a wallet address that closely resembles one the victim often uses. For example, the attacker may match the first and last few characters.

3. They send a small or zero-value transaction to the victim’s wallet from this fake address.

4. They rely on the victim copying the attacker’s address from their recent transaction list later.

5. They collect the funds when the victim accidentally pastes and sends them to the malicious address.

The victim’s wallet and private keys remain untouched, and blockchain cryptography stays unbroken. The scam thrives purely on human error and trust in familiar patterns.

Did you know? Address poisoning scams surged alongside the rise of Ethereum layer-2 networks, where lower fees make it cheaper for attackers to mass-send dust transactions to thousands of wallets at once.

How attackers craft deceptive addresses

Crypto addresses are lengthy hexadecimal strings, often 42 characters on Ethereum-compatible chains. Wallets usually show only a truncated version, such as “0x85c…4b7,” which scammers take advantage of. Fake addresses have identical beginnings and endings, while the middle portion differs.

Legitimate address (example format):

0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f44e

Poisoned lookalike address:

0x742d35Cc6634C0532925a3b844Bc454e4438f4Ae

Scammers use vanity address generators to craft these near-identical strings. The fake one appears in the victim’s transaction history thanks to the dusting transfer. To users, it looks trustworthy at a glance, especially since they rarely verify the full address string.

Did you know? Some blockchain explorers now automatically label suspicious dusting transactions, helping users spot potential poisoning attempts before interacting with their transaction history.

Why this scam succeeds so well

There are several intertwined factors that make address poisoning devastatingly effective:

1. Human limitations in handling long strings: Because addresses are not human-friendly, users rely on quick visual checks at the beginning and end. Scammers exploit this tendency.

2. Convenient but risky wallet features: Many wallets offer easy copy buttons next to recent transactions. While this feature is helpful for legitimate use, it becomes risky when spam entries sneak in. Investigators such as ZachXBT have pointed to cases where victims copied poisoned addresses directly from their wallet UI.

3. No need for technical exploits: Because blockchains are public and permissionless, anyone can send tokens to any address. Wallets usually display all incoming transactions, including spam, and users tend to trust their own history.

The vulnerability lies in behavior and UX, not in encryption or key security.

Why keys aren’t enough protection

Private keys control authorization, meaning they ensure only you can sign transactions. However, they cannot verify whether the destination address is correct. Blockchain’s core traits — permissionless access, irreversibility of transactions and trust minimization — mean malicious transactions get permanently recorded.

In these scams, the user willingly signs the transfer. The system functions exactly as designed, and the flaw lies in human judgment.

Underlying psychological and design issues involve:

• Routine habits: People tend to repeatedly send funds to the same addresses, so they copy from their transaction history instead of reentering addresses.

• Cognitive strain: Transactions involve multiple steps, such as addresses, fees, networks and approvals. Many users find scrutinizing every character tedious.

• Truncated displays: Wallet UIs hide most of the address, leading to partial checks.

Did you know? In certain cases, attackers automate address lookalike generation using GPU-powered vanity tools, allowing them to produce thousands of near-identical wallet addresses within minutes.

Practical ways to stay safer

While address poisoning exploits user behavior rather than technical vulnerabilities, small changes in transaction habits can significantly reduce the risk. Understanding a few practical safety measures can help crypto users avoid costly mistakes without requiring advanced technical knowledge.

For users

Simple verification habits and transaction discipline can significantly reduce your chances of falling victim to address poisoning scams.

• Build and use a verified address book or whitelist for frequent recipients.

• Verify the full address. Use a checker or compare it character by character before making payments.

• Never copy addresses from recent transaction history. Instead, reenter addresses or use bookmarks.

• Ignore or report unsolicited small transfers as potential poisoning attempts.

For wallet developers

Thoughtful interface design and built-in safeguards can minimize user error and make address poisoning attacks far less effective.

• Filtering or hiding low-value spam transactions

• Similarity detection for recipient addresses

• Pre-signing simulations and risk warnings

• Built-in poisoned address checks via onchain queries or shared blacklists.

The $40,000 put option has emerged as one of the most significant positions in bitcoin’s market ahead of the Feb. 27 expiry, highlighting strong demand for downside protection after a bruising selloff.

Options are derivatives that give holders the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell bitcoin at a predetermined price before expiry. Put options act as insurance against price declines, paying out if BTC falls below a set strike.

The $40,000 put is the second-largest strike by open interest, with roughly $490 million in notional value tied to that level, underscoring appetite for deep tail-risk hedges. BTC has declined by up to 50% from its October highs and is now trading around $66,000, reshaping positioning across the board as traders hedge against further losses.

Data from Deribit, the Dubai-based exchange owned by Coinbase, shows that roughly $7.3 billion in bitcoin options notional value is set to expire at the end of the month.

Meanwhile, $566 million sits at the $75,000 strike, which also represents the max pain level. Max pain refers to the price at which the greatest number of options expire worthless, minimizing payouts to buyers. With the spot price trading below $75,000, a move higher into expiry could reduce losses for call sellers.

Although calls outweigh puts overall, with 63,547 call contracts versus 45,914 puts, positioning is not purely bullish. The put-to-call ratio of 0.72 indicates that upside bets still dominate, but the concentration of sizeable put open interest at lower strikes highlights clear demand for downside insurance.

Traders retain exposure to a rebound, but are simultaneously hedging against the risk of another sharp leg lower.

Bitcoin BTC$67,121.29 can’t seem to pick a direction, wildly swinging in the early hours of the Wednesday U.S. session with dips quickly bought and bounces erased just as fast.

Losing its overnight push above $68,500, BTC dumped below $67,000 at the start of U.S. trading. Buyers quickly stepped in, driving a sharp rebound to $68,300, but the bounce proved fleeting with prices quickly falling back to $67,000. Ether (ETH) followed a similar path, dipping back below $2,000 and down roughly 1% over the past 24 hours.

Part of the crosscurrents came from traditional markets. On one hand, a steadier tone in risk assets came as concerns around artificial intelligence disruption in the tech sector cooled. The iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF (IGV), a proxy for the software sector that had been under pressure over the past weeks, bounced 1.9% in morning trading, suggesting some relief.

The broader Nasdaq was higher by 1.3% and the S&P 500 by 0.85%>

On the other hand, geopolitical jitters are back as traders increasingly brace for potential escalation between the U.S. and Iran. Traders on the prediction market Polymarket now assign more than 50% odds that the U.S. will launch strikes against Iran before March 15, up from about 30% just a day ago.

Gold climbed 2.5% to reclaim the $5,000 level, while silver surged 6%. U.S. crude oil jumped more than 3% to above $64 a barrel, underscoring heightened supply risks.

Despite the choppy crypto price action, crypto-related equities were bouncing. Exchange giant Coinbase (COIN), stablecoin issuer Circle (CRCL) and digital asset investment firm Galaxy (GLXY) were all 3%-5% higher.

Miners and AI-linked data center plays such as Riot Platforms (RIOT) and IREN (IREN) outperformed further, with each posting gains of 5.5%.

Bitcoin is on course to print its fifth consecutive weekly loss, which would mark the first such streak since March to May 2022, when bitcoin went down for nine consecutive weeks.

As of Thursday Asia time, the largest cryptocurrency by market cap is already down roughly 3% on the week, below $67,000, according to CoinDesk market data, and leaving it vulnerable to another weekly red close.

Macro pressures are adding to the technical weakness. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. has amassed its largest concentration of air power in the Middle East since the 2003 Iraq invasion. While Washington is reportedly prepared to launch strikes on Iran, President Donald Trump has not made a final decision, with Polymarket bettors giving a 27% chance of strikes occurring by the end of the month.

The geopolitical uncertainty has lifted the dollar index to 97.7, its highest level since Feb. 6, while WTI crude oil has climbed to $65 from Wednesday’s $62 low. A stronger dollar and rising oil prices typically weigh on risk assets, creating additional headwinds for bitcoin, reinforcing a negative weekly close.

Bitcoin has declined by more than 50% from its October all-time high near $126,500 to levels as low as $60,000.

On a monthly basis, bitcoin has recorded five straight declines since October, the second-longest losing streak on record, surpassed only by the six-month slide from 2018 to 2019.

Against gold, bitcoin is down seven consecutive months relative to the precious metal, its longest stretch of underperformance in that pairing.

World Liberty Financial has unveiled plans to roll out an institutional-grade real-world asset product, starting with a tokenized investment linked to Trump International Hotel & Resort, Maldives.

The goal of the project, which is being developed in partnership with Securitize and DarGlobal PLC, is to tokenize loan revenue interests tied to the upscale resort. 

According to WLFI’s Feb. 18 statement, the offering is designed for accredited and eligible investors, providing access to fixed yield and revenue streams within a regulated framework.

How the tokenized product is structured

The initial offering will provide investors with fixed returns and access to loan-related income generated by the resort. Revenue from interest payments will be distributed through the token structure, allowing holders to gain exposure to the asset’s performance without direct property ownership.

The company noted that the product will operate within a regulated securities framework under Regulation D and Regulation S. Tokens will not be registered for public sale in the United States and may only be offered through approved exemptions.

Eric Trump, co-founder of WLFI, said the initiative aims to bring tokenized real estate to decentralized finance in a compliant way. He described the Maldives project as a flagship example of how high-end property can move on-chain.

“We built World Liberty Financial to open up decentralized finance to the world. With today’s announcement, we are now extending that access to tokenized real estate.”

— Eric Trump, co-founder of World Liberty Financial.

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Securitize chief executive officer Carlos Domingo said scalable and compliant real estate tokens could see strong global demand, while DarGlobal CEO Ziad El Chaar called the partnership a step toward improving liquidity in private real estate markets.

The announcement clarified that The Trump Organization is not directly involved in issuing or promoting the tokens, and that branding is used under a licensing agreement.

World Liberty Financial (WLFI) also noted that the tokens may later be supported on multiple public blockchains and could be used as collateral through its WLFI Markets platform, where permitted by law.

Broader expansion strategy

The real estate launch follows a series of recent efforts by WLFI to position itself in institutional digital finance. On the same day as the announcement, the company hosted the World Liberty Forum at Mar-a-Lago, bringing together executives from firms including Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq, and Franklin Templeton.

The private event focused on digital assets, stablecoins, artificial intelligence, and monetary policy, according to people familiar with the gathering.

WLFI also announced a separate partnership with Apex Group to pilot its USD1 stablecoin for settlements in tokenized fund operations. The agreement will help integrate blockchain-based payments into traditional fund administration.

In a letter sent on February 18 activist investor Starboard Value LP called on Riot Platforms to urgently execute its transition from bitcoin mining to a premier artificial intelligence and high-performance computing (AI/HPC) data center provider.

Starboard: Riot Platforms sitting on a multi-billion dollar AI payday

“We believe Riot is on its way to a transformation from a bitcoin miner to a best-in-class AI/HPC
data center company,” Starboard said in the letter.

While praising recent governance improvements, Starboard warned that “time is of the essence” as the company continues to underperform its peers.

Starboard highlighted Riot Platform’s “massive” opportunity, centered on its 1.7GW of available power across two flagship sites in Corsicana and Rockdale, Texas. As the AI industry faces severe power constraints and multi-year grid interconnection delays, Starboard contends that Riot’s already-powered sites are among the most attractive in the nation.

The investor pointed to Riot’s January 2026 deal with Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) as a “positive signal” and proof of concept. Under the agreement, AMD committed to 25MW which is expected to generate $311 million in revenue over a 10-year term with an 80% EBITDA margin.

Starboard’s analysis suggests Riot is also significantly undervalued. If Riot successfully monetizes its remaining 1.4GW of capacity in line with recent industry transactions, it could generate over $1.6 billion in annual EBITDA. Using valuation multiples of 12.5x to 20x, Starboard estimates the AI/HPC business alone could contribute between $9 billion and $21 billion in equity value, implying a share price of $23 to $53.

Despite these prospects, Starboard Managing Member Peter Feld noted that Riot’s stock has materially lagged behind peers who signed larger AI deals earlier. The letter urged Riot to focus on “highest-quality” investment-grade tenants and warned that if management cannot execute quickly, the company should consider itself a candidate for consolidation due to the scarcity of its power assets.

“Riot is now positioned to focus on executing its AI/HPC strategy,” Feld wrote, “but it must execute with excellence and urgency”^.

TLDR:

• Ether.fi Cash processes 28,000 daily spend transactions averaging $2 million in volume, doubling every two months. 
• The migration covers 70,000 active cards, 300,000 accounts, and millions in user TVL moving to OP Mainnet. 
• OP Stack processed 3.6 billion transactions in H2 2025, accounting for 13% of all global crypto transactions. 
• ether.fi users will access OP token rewards, 3%+ cashback, travel perks, and free metal cards post-migration.

Ether.fi is migrating its flagship Cash product to Optimism’s OP Mainnet. The move covers roughly 70,000 active cards and 300,000 accounts.

Millions in user TVL will also transfer to the new network. The migration is part of a long-term OP Enterprise partnership.

Together, the teams aim to accelerate on-chain global payments. This positions OP Mainnet as a leading destination for payment activity in the broader crypto ecosystem.

Ether.fi Cash Brings Scale and Speed to OP Mainnet

Ether.fi Cash is a non-custodial digital banking product combining a credit card with a savings account. It runs DeFi protocols under the hood to generate yield for users.

The product allows movement between fiat and crypto while offering cashback and global spending. Users manage their assets without giving up custody.

Since launching last year, the product has grown quickly. Each day, the app processes 2,000 internal swaps and 28,000 spend transactions.

Daily spend volume averages around $2 million. These numbers have roughly doubled every two months since launch.

The migration to OP Mainnet will expand liquidity access for users making swaps. They will also gain access to more assets for deposits and withdrawals.

Gas fees and network costs for card transactions will be covered by ether.fi. More cashback rewards are also planned as part of the move.

For end users, the transition is designed to be seamless. Optimism has managed major ecosystem migrations before and has a structured process in place. Users should not experience disruption during the switch to the new network.

What the OP Enterprise Partnership Means for Ether.fi

As an OP Enterprise customer, Ether.fi gains access to several infrastructure benefits. These include established liquidity, a dedicated account manager, and priority access to new features. The same codebase works across all OP Stack chains, which reduces development overhead.

The OP Stack processed 3.6 billion transactions in the second half of 2025. That represented 13 percent of all crypto transactions during that period. OP Mainnet serves as a hub for DeFi activity and a launchpad for consumer apps.

As part of the integration, ether.fi users will receive access to OP token rewards. Ongoing reward programs include 3% or more cashback, in-app campaigns, travel discounts, and free metal cards. Membership tiers and lounge access are also part of the package.

ether.fi sees blockchain infrastructure as a way to expand globally at a lower cost than traditional fintech. Operating non-custodially allows the platform to scale without the overhead traditional banks carry.

The partnership with Optimism supports that model with enterprise-grade tools and network depth.

United States Federal Reserve policymakers discussed the possibility of interest rate increases last month, according to newly released comments from a January meeting.

The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting from late January were released on Wednesday, revealing that some policymakers were mulling a rate hike due to stubbornly high inflation. 

Several participants indicated that they would support “the possibility that upward adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate could be appropriate if inflation remains at above-target levels,” the minutes stated. 

Central bank policymakers voted to keep interest rates unchanged at 3.5% to 3.75% at their January meeting after cutting rates three times at the end of 2025, from 4.5% to current levels.

If enacted, it would be the first rate hike since July 2023. However, CME futures markets indicate a 94% probability that rates will remain unchanged at the Fed’s next meeting on March 18. 

The Federal Reserve has two primary mandates for its policy on rates: inflation and the labor market. 

High inflation concerns persist 

The minutes also revealed that there is a significant “hawkish” contingent that is not yet ready to commit to further cuts. 

Some participants commented that it would likely be appropriate to “hold the policy rate steady for some time” to give them more time to assess economic data. 

However, a number of these participants judged that “additional policy easing may not be warranted until there was a clear indication that the progress of disinflation was firmly back on track.”

Related: Why Bitcoin has recently reacted more to liquidity conditions than to rate cuts

Most participants cautioned that progress toward the 2% inflation objective “might be slower and more uneven than generally expected,” judging that there was a meaningful risk of it remaining above the target. 

If inflation were to decline in line with expectations, rate reductions “would likely be appropriate,” the minutes stated.  

US inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is currently 2.4%, having increased 0.2% in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  

Rate hikes are typically bad for crypto prices

Higher rates are generally bearish for high-risk assets such as crypto, as safer assets like Treasury bonds or cash offer better returns with no risk. 

Higher rates also make borrowing more expensive, which reduces speculative activity, leverage, and venture capital investments. 

Crypto market sentiment, which is already at rock bottom, could also be further hit by a hawkish Federal Reserve. 

Magazine: Chinese New Year boosts interest, TradFi buying crypto exchanges: Asia Express