Unlimited Allowance

Definition ∞ An unlimited allowance in the context of smart contracts grants a third-party application or protocol permission to spend an indefinite amount of a user’s tokens. While convenient for repeated interactions without needing re-approvals, it presents a significant security risk. If the authorized smart contract or the third-party application is compromised, all tokens covered by the allowance can be drained without further user consent. This approval remains active until manually revoked.
Context ∞ Unlimited allowance is a critical security consideration in decentralized finance (DeFi), frequently discussed in news related to smart contract exploits and user asset safety. Users are often advised to grant limited allowances or revoke unnecessary ones to mitigate risk. The debate centers on balancing user convenience with robust security practices in the DeFi ecosystem.