How to Revoke Token Approvals on Polymarket-Connected Wallets (And Check Them Quarterly)
Every “connect wallet” flow that approves tokens leaves a standing permission — and most wallets accumulate a dozen of them, several unlimited, from apps half-forgotten. An approval drainer needs nothing but your signature once; after that, your allowance is the attack surface. Here’s how to audit, revoke, and set the cadence that keeps approvals clean.
How do I revoke token approvals on my Polymarket wallet?
1. Audit. Look up your address on a token-approval service (revoke.cash and similar read the public allowance state) — every ERC-20 allowance your address has granted, by spender, with amounts. 2. Judge each row: active and needed (the platform’s exchange contracts you actually trade through) versus stale or unknown (apps you don’t recognize, “maximum” allowances from one-time experiments). 3. Revoke the stale/unknown rows — each revocation is an on-chain transaction (gas: cents on Polygon, see the gas guide). 4. Verify the list reflects the revocations. Full approval mechanics: WalletConnect safety.
Which approvals are normal for Polymarket?
Trading through the platform requires allowances to its exchange contracts — those rows are normal and expected (scoped beats unlimited, but unlimited is common and acceptable for contracts you trust and actively use). What’s not normal: allowances to contracts you can’t identify, allowances created during sessions you don’t remember, and allowances on tokens you no longer hold (stale but revocable hygiene). If you find an allowance to an unknown spender, revoke it and check for a 7702 delegation — approval drainers and delegation drainers travel together (see the CrimeEnjoyor pattern).
The quarterly cadence (and the immediate triggers)
Quarterly routine (15 minutes): audit the list, revoke stale rows, re-verify — fold it into the 10-step hardening pass. Immediate triggers — audit now, not quarterly, after: connecting to any unfamiliar site, any signature you don’t fully remember approving, any airdrop/claim interaction (see airdrop baits), and any phishing-domain visit even if you think you signed nothing.
Revocation costs and gotchas
Gas: each revoke is a transaction — cents on Polygon; batching revokes across tokens isn’t standard (one per spender), so a heavy cleanup session is a handful of cents. Timing: revocation is effective on confirmation — if you’re revoking after a suspicious signature, minutes matter (drainers sweep fast — run the first-24-hours sequence in parallel, not sequentially). The revoke doesn’t undo a swept approval: if the allowance was already used, the funds are gone — revocation prevents the next use. Keep the necessary ones: a revoke-everything reflex breaks your own trading; revoke by judgment, not by maxim.
FAQ
How do I see all token approvals for my wallet? An approval-lookup service (revoke.cash and similar) reads the public allowance state for your address — spender, token, amount. It’s all public data; nothing to sign.
Is revoke.cash safe to use? The lookup is read-only; the revoke transactions you sign go directly to the token contracts (standard decreaseAllowance/revoke patterns). Navigate by bookmark and verify the URL — the phishing-domain rules apply to security tools too.
Should I revoke Polymarket’s own approvals? Not while you’re actively trading — re-approving costs gas and friction each time. Revoke platform allowances only if you’re stepping away for good or hardening after an incident; keep scoped approvals otherwise.
Do approvals expire on their own? No — an allowance stands until revoked or the token balance hits zero. “Forgotten approval” is a permanent permission, which is why the quarterly audit exists.
How much does revoking approvals cost? Each revoke is a small Polygon transaction — cents (see gas requirements). A full cleanup session typically costs less than a coffee, which is the best security-per-dollar ratio in crypto.
Educational content, not financial advice. Not affiliated with Polymarket or revoke.cash. Last updated October 2026.