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How to Review a Token Approval Transaction

A token approval gives another address or smart contract permission to spend a token from your wallet. It does not normally transfer the token immediately, but the approved spender can use the allowance later until it is spent, replaced, or revoked.

Gem Wallet identifies supported approval requests and can show the token, approval value, contract, spender, method, and security warnings before you confirm.

danger

Approve only a spender you intended to authorize. A malicious or incorrectly verified spender may use the allowance to take the approved tokens without asking you to approve another transfer.

Review an Approval Without Submitting It​

You can reproduce this review safely and cancel before signing:

  1. Open a verified dApp or begin an on-chain token swap in Gem Wallet.
  2. Choose an action that requires a token approval.
  3. When the approval confirmation screen appears, do not select Confirm yet.
  4. Verify the wallet, token, network, approval amount, and network fee.
  5. Review the Contract, Method, Spender, and Value fields when they are available.
  6. Select a contract or spender address to open its address details, or use the explorer option to inspect it on the correct network.
  7. Read every warning and decide whether the requested permission matches the action you initiated.
  8. Cancel or close the request if you do not intend to submit it.

The exact fields depend on the network, approval method, and available simulation data. Missing decoded fields or warnings do not prove that an approval is safe.

Check the Token and Network​

Confirm that the approval is for the token and blockchain you selected. The same token symbol can exist on several networks or be copied by an unrelated token contract.

Compare the complete token contract with a trusted source when the token is unfamiliar. You also need the network's native coin to pay the approval transaction fee—for example, ETH for an ERC-20 approval on Ethereum.

Verify the Spender​

The Spender is the address receiving permission to use the token. It may be a decentralized exchange router, bridge, Permit2 contract, or another application contract.

Verify the complete address using the dApp's official documentation or a trusted blockchain explorer. Do not rely only on a shortened address, token logo, readable label, or link supplied through a message.

Gem Wallet can make supported address fields selectable so you can review their address details. This helps with inspection but is not an endorsement of the address.

warning

An Externally Owned Spender warning means the spender appears to be a regular wallet account instead of a smart contract. Cancel unless you fully understand why a person-controlled account needs the allowance.

Check the Approval Amount​

An exact approval limits the spender to the displayed token amount. An unlimited approval may allow the spender to use the wallet's current and future balance of that token until the allowance is revoked or changed.

An unlimited allowance is not automatically malicious—some applications request one to avoid repeated approvals—but it creates broader and longer-lived access. Prefer an exact amount when the dApp supports it.

Read Token Approval vs Permit Signature before signing a Permit or Permit2 message. A Permit is a signature rather than a normal approval transaction, but it can still authorize token spending.

Understand the Method and Contract​

For supported requests, Gem Wallet may decode fields such as:

  • Method — for example, an ERC-20 approval, NFT collection approval, Permit, or Permit2 request.
  • Contract — the token or authorization contract receiving the call.
  • Spender — the address receiving spending authority.
  • Value — the exact amount or an unlimited allowance.
  • Expiration — when a supported signed authorization expires.

An NFT Set Approval For All request can authorize access to every NFT in a collection. Do not treat it as permission for only the NFT currently shown on a website.

Respond to Approval Warnings​

Cancel the request if Gem Wallet reports a suspicious spender, an unexplained validation problem, or any permission unrelated to your intended action. Critical warnings can disable confirmation.

Also cancel when:

  • The token, network, contract, or spender does not match the dApp.
  • The approval is unlimited and the broader scope is unnecessary.
  • The request appeared without an action you initiated.
  • The website pressures you to proceed despite a wallet warning.
  • You cannot verify the complete spender address independently.

Do not bypass a warning by importing the wallet into another app.

After Confirming an Approval​

An ordinary token approval is an on-chain transaction. Wait for confirmation, then verify its status on the correct blockchain explorer before continuing with the swap or dApp action.

If you approved the wrong spender or no longer trust the application, follow How to Revoke a Suspicious Token Approval. Disconnecting a WalletConnect session does not revoke an allowance already recorded on-chain.

For a broader review of decoded fields and expected balance changes, see How to Review a Transaction Simulation.