Security

Tracing a wallet is about more than spotting a couple of ERC-20 transfers. To understand whether funds are safe or where they went, you need a full timeline of external transactions, internal value moves, token transfers, and the contracts touched along the way. This walkthrough shows how I build that view with inexpensive tools that fit a sub-$1k wallet.

I’m kicking off a beginner-friendly series focused on the unglamorous habits that keep funds safe. Approval hygiene is the first pillar because it’s the easiest way to lose tokens without ever signing a swap. I’m doing this from a practice wallet capped under $1k, so everything here is sized for small, realistic balances. This post covers what an approval really does, how allowances accumulate, and a lightweight routine for revoking the ones you don’t need.