The Ethereum Foundation and a group of leading crypto wallet developers are introducing a new security standard designed to prevent users from accidentally signing over their funds, a problem that has fueled some of the industry’s biggest hacks and scams.
The initiative, called “Clear Signing,” aims to replace the confusing walls of code users currently see when approving Ethereum transactions with simple, human-readable explanations of what they are actually agreeing to.
The effort comes after years of phishing attacks and wallet drains, which often boil down to the same issue: users unknowingly approving malicious transactions they don’t understand. The Ethereum Foundation cited incidents like the Bybit hack as examples of how attackers exploit “blind signatures,” where users approve transactions filled with unreadable technical data.
Right now, signing a crypto transaction can feel like clicking “Accept” on a terms of service page written in another language. Wallets often display long strings of code that only high-tech users can understand, leaving everyday merchants vulnerable to fake apps, malicious links, and compromised websites.
Instead the new system will allow wallets to display clear signals such as what assets are being transferred, who is receiving them and what permissions are being granted before users approve them.
This framework relies on a proposed Ethereum standard called ERC-7730 and a public registry where transaction details can be reviewed and verified by independent security researchers. Wallets can then choose which trusted sources to use when presenting information to users.
The Ethereum Foundation’s Trillion Dollar Security Initiative said it plans to oversee the infrastructure behind the registry while encouraging wallets and developers to adopt the standard across the ecosystem.
The push highlights the growing realization inside crypto that better security may rely less on smart code and more on making sure users actually understand what they’re signing.
“We welcome the Ethereum Foundation’s clear signature standard as an important security advancement for our entire industry. It addresses a fundamental vulnerability that has plagued cryptocurrency users for years, blind signatures. When users don’t understand what they’re signing, security becomes more difficult. This standard changes that, and every wallet provider should adopt it,” Tomas Susanka, chief technology officer at Trezor, said in a statement sent to CoinDesk. said in the email.
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