New chain launches: why do drainers move so quickly?

TL;DR: New EVM chains with strong hype, airdrop narratives, and active DeFi communities attract drainer-as-a-service operations within days of launch, according to Blockaid, because the same wallet-connecting behaviour and approval patterns make them easy, low-effort targets. Timing and user behaviour, not just chain novelty, determine criminal interest.

Editorial analysis by NHI Mgmt Group, based on content published by Blockaid: “How Wallet Drainers Exploit New Blockchain Launches”.

Key questions

Q: What breaks when new blockchain launches are treated as normal product releases?

A: Launches become a fraud window instead of a routine release if teams do not model wallet connection, token hype, and impersonation infrastructure as active attack conditions.

Q: Why do EVM-compatible chains attract more drainer activity than non-EVM chains?

A: EVM compatibility lowers attacker setup cost because existing draining kits already understand ERC-20 approvals, permit flows, and common router interactions.

Q: What are the signs that a launch is becoming a wallet-draining target?

A: Watch for fake dApps, cloned token pages, impersonation domains, and launch-themed phishing assets appearing before or during mainnet.

Practitioner guidance

• Pre-stage launch monitoring before mainnet Set monitoring in place before announcement windows, not after launch-day activity begins, and watch for cloned dApps, fake tokens, and approval-phishing pages.
• Tie token events to security readiness Map airdrops, token generation events, and onboarding surges to security sign-off so speculative user behaviour is covered before wallet connection spikes.
• Screen dApps and transactions at the wallet boundary Inspect the site, token, and transaction context at the point of signing so malicious infrastructure is warned on before approval executes.

Bottom line: New chain launches are not just product events, they are predictable fraud windows when wallet approval abuse becomes easier to scale.

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