Ethereum and BNB Chain address errors linked to $575M in losses

An academic study conducted by researchers from Sun Yat-sen, Zhejiang, and Peking universities has linked Ethereum address errors and similar mistakes on the BNB Chain to nearly $574.8 million in lost cryptocurrency.

The research identified 65,340 high-risk cases categorized into two main types: Contract Account Misuse and Externally Owned Account Misuse. Contract Account Misuse, which accounted for 49,344 cases, involved users sending assets to addresses lacking expected code, often due to network switching errors. This resulted in losses of 22,738.41 ETH and 8,681.41 BNB.

Additionally, exposed private keys contributed to 15,996 cases of account misuse, involving 104,224.53 ETH and 9,045.29 BNB. The study also highlighted 17,270 instances involving EIP-7702, where malicious delegation allowed attackers to seize exposed accounts and automatically redirect deposits.