A research paper highlighted by the USENIX Association says basic address-handling mistakes have led to major losses across Ethereum and BNB Chain. The study links ordinary user errors and unsafe address interactions to an estimated $575 million in lost assets.

The researchers examined millions of on-chain addresses and identified 65,340 high-risk cases involving what they describe as “address misuse.” In the paper, the term covers situations where users send funds to unsafe, unintended or otherwise unsuitable addresses, including testnet addresses, reused contracts and wallets whose private keys were already exposed.

What the researchers found

According to the study, incorrect interactions with blockchain addresses remain a significant but underappreciated security problem. The authors argue that addresses are not only essential to using crypto networks, but can also become a source of risk when users act through negligence, misunderstanding or simple operational mistakes.

Their on-chain analysis flagged 65,340 cases across Ethereum and BNB Chain that were classified as high risk. These cases were tied to misuse involving both smart-contract addresses and externally owned accounts, the standard wallet type controlled by private keys.

How losses occurred

The paper groups several kinds of mistakes under the label of address misuse. One example is the use of testnet addresses on a live network, where a user may rely on an address that appears valid but does not function as intended on the real chain. The researchers also point to old or reused contract addresses as another source of error.

A separate category involves sending assets to wallets whose private keys had already been leaked. In those cases, even if the transfer reaches a valid externally owned account, control of the funds may already be compromised because someone else can access the address.

Estimated losses by category

The researchers estimate that sending crypto to the wrong type of contract address accounted for losses of 22,738 ETH and 8,681 BNB. They report substantially larger losses from transfers to compromised regular wallets, totaling 104,245 ETH and 9,045 BNB.

Taken together, the paper says these forms of misuse add up to roughly $575 million in losses. The figure is presented as a study estimate based on the authors’ on-chain analysis rather than a confirmed total from exchanges, regulators or court records.

Who led the study and what comes next

The report was led by researchers from Sun Yat-sen University, Peking University and Zhejiang University. USENIX, which highlighted the work, described the findings as evidence that unsafe address interactions have already caused widespread real-world asset losses.

Based on the findings presented in the paper, the clearest confirmed takeaway is that address verification remains a critical operational issue on major blockchains. The study adds measured on-chain evidence to a problem often treated as user error, showing that mistakes involving address type, network context and account security can translate into large losses.

Source: dailyhodl.com