Blockaid has caused the crypto leaker to shut down, saying it prevents false positives.
Blockade's Web3 security platform has caused at least one crypto exchange to be shut down out of frustration, according to data posted by the service provider on April 25. Blockaid also defended itself against claims that it has too many “false positives,” a service with zero false positives that allows some malicious apps to extort users' money.
Blockaid is a developer of security software that attempts to detect malicious contracts on Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) networks, including Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon, Arbitrum, and others. It is integrated into several wallets and apps, including MetaMask, Coinbase wallet, Open Sea, Zerion and more. When users attempt to trade Blockaid with a malicious contract, these wallets and apps warn users that their funds may be lost if they interact with it.
Blockaid has released an image showing an ad allegedly from a crypto drainer service that has been used to steal crypto in the past. The ad says “[W]Closed due to Blockaid and low success rate. The crypto drainer group suggested that thieves stop using networks that are popular with blockchain users because they are no longer profitable. “I would suggest a leak on the Bitcoin network or maybe use the SOL drain with a blowfish pass,” said the drain team. Blockade software is currently not compatible with the Solana and Bitcoin networks.
This post was part of a larger thread about “false positives” or security services flagging legitimate apps as malicious. In the thread, Blockaid admitted that it sometimes mistakenly suggests legitimate apps. But he said this only happens in 0.0002% of attempted transactions. The team argued that achieving a false zero rate is not a reasonable goal, as it only allows some malicious apps to bypass filters and allow users to withdraw money. He explained.
The statistical nature of these systems means that we must work to strike a balance: zero false positives inevitably mean that malicious transactions will develop easy ways to bypass the defenses and ultimately drain the economy.
Still, Blockaid said it wants to further reduce false positives. Blockaid has announced that it is launching a new web portal for users and developers to report these bugs, which it believes will “enable false positives to be detected and fixed as quickly as possible.”
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Web3 users will lose more than $300 million to crypto drainers by 2023, according to a report from Web3 security platform Fraud Sniffer. In October, Blockaid announced that its service was included in MetaMask, a Web3 wallet with over 30 million users. On March 13, Coinbase wallet announced that it had quietly integrated its service into the wallet five months earlier.
