Crypto Trader Loses $50M in USDT After Falling for Address Poisoning Scam

A crypto trader has reportedly lost around $50 million in $USDT after falling victim to an address poisoning scam — a tactic where attackers send small transactions using wallet addresses that closely resemble legitimate ones, hoping victims copy the wrong address from their transaction history.

In this case, the attacker’s address appeared similar to a previously used wallet. When the trader attempted a large transfer, the funds were mistakenly sent to the spoofed address instead. Once confirmed on-chain, the funds were quickly moved across multiple wallets, making recovery extremely difficult.

This incident highlights how even experienced users can be caught off guard, especially during high-value transfers. It also reinforces the importance of manually verifying wallet addresses and not relying solely on copied transaction history.

Question:

Do you think wallet UX needs stronger protections against address poisoning, or is this purely a user-responsibility issue?

Source: Original reporting by Bitcoin.com News