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DeFi and NFT security

Lesson 8 of 10
By the end of this lesson you’ll know the handful of ways people lose money in DeFi and with NFTs that have nothing to do with price, and the wallet habits that keep each one away from the bulk of what you hold.
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Security, not investing

This lesson doesn’t say whether to use any protocol or buy any NFT. How DeFi Works covers the machinery and A Portfolio Built to Last covers setting the size of any holding before you choose it. Here the question is narrower: how does a connected wallet get emptied, and how do you arrange things so it can’t be emptied of much.

Claim sites

One of the most common ways an ordinary holder loses money in DeFi is a web page. It announces an airdrop, a reward, a migration or a refund, and offers a button.

Scams and How to Stay Safe, lesson 4, covers the beginner version. At this level, know what the button asks for.

It’s one of the signatures from lesson 5: an approval or permit for your tokens, a listing of your NFTs, or a delegation of your whole address. The page’s job is to make the request look like “claim.” Your device’s job is to show you what it is, and your job is to read the device.

The page
Says “claim”
↓
The request
An approval, a permit, a listing or a delegation
↓
Your device
Shows what it is, if you read it
What the button does

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