A $50M Mistake: How One Copy-Paste Wiped Out a Crypto Wallet
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One wrong click led to one of the biggest onchain losses of the year. A crypto user accidentally sent nearly $50 million in USDT to a scam address after falling for an address poisoning attack.
The victim had done everything “right” at first — sending a small test transaction to the correct address. Minutes later, when copying the address from transaction history, they unknowingly selected a lookalike wallet planted by the attacker.
The scam didn’t rely on hacking or exploits. It relied on habit and speed. Within hours, the funds were swapped into ETH and scattered across multiple wallets, with part routed through Tornado Cash. A costly reminder: in crypto, one copy-paste can be irreversible.