EIP-7702 Exploit Drains $9M as Hackers Target Ethereum Wallets

Sun Jun 01 2025
A critical flaw in Ethereum’s EIP-7702 has enabled crypto theft gangs to steal over $9 million. Here’s how the exploit works and what devs are doing now.

🛑 9M Gone — EIP-7702 Hit by Massive Exploit on Ethereum

Ethereum’s newest innovation just got hijacked.

EIP-7702, the protocol that promised wallet flexibility and smart contract-style UX for everyone, has been exploited by crypto theft gangs — resulting in over 9 million in stolen assets.

Welcome to the downside of account abstraction.


🔍 What Is EIP-7702?

Launched as a cutting-edge Ethereum upgrade, EIP-7702 lets your wallet:

  • 🧠 Act like a smart contract
  • 🔁 Delegate logic to other contracts
  • 💸 Bundle transactions, sponsor gas, customize permissions

But with great power comes… massive security risk. And that’s exactly what happened.


🧨 What Went Wrong?

Security researcher Yu Xian (SlowMist) blew the whistle:

  • 🧪 97% of active EIP-7702 delegations are malicious
  • 🕵️ Hackers use leaked private keys or seed phrases
  • 🤖 They deploy contracts that instantly siphon user funds
  • 🧼 No phishing. No alerts. Just silent, automated extraction

EIP-7702 became a backdoor for advanced wallet drains.


💸 The Damage So Far: 9M and Climbing

This isn’t just another phishing scheme.

  • 🚨 9M+ already drained
  • ⚠️ Exploits happen automatically once a wallet is compromised
  • 🧊 Traditional wallet security isn’t enough to stop it

SlowMist and others are urging users: turn off delegation features now.


🧑‍💻 Devs React Fast (But It’s Not Easy)

Ethereum core devs are already:

  • 🧩 Reworking how delegation is authorized
  • 🔐 Discussing EIP redesigns or temporary suspensions
  • ⚠️ Pushing for new wallet UX standards and better user warnings

It’s a tough tradeoff: innovation vs. attack surface.

Flexibility is powerful — but only if users stay safe.


🌐 Ethereum Still Strong — But This Is a Wake-Up Call

  • 💰 ETH still trading around 2,541
  • 💹 Market cap over 300B
  • 🚀 Momentum remains strong, but trust = fragile

The lesson? As wallets get smarter, hackers do too. Protocol design must evolve with threat models.


🧠 TL;DR: EIP-7702 Exploit Drains Millions from Ethereum Wallets

🧩 EIP-7702 = flexible, smart contract-style wallets 🕵️ Hackers used delegation to auto-drain compromised wallets 💸 Over 9M lost via silent, contract-based theft 🔐 97% of current uses of EIP-7702 = malicious ⚠️ Devs working on urgent redesigns + better protections 📉 Users advised to disable EIP-7702 delegation immediately

Ethereum isn’t broken — but this protocol is under serious fire.

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