Here’s how crypto firms like Coinbase are fending off drainer hacker groups

Episode 12 of Season 6 of The Scoop was recorded with The Block's Frank Chaparro and Raz Niv Co-Founder and CTO of Blockaid.

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This episode of The Scoop, hosted by The Block's Frank Chaparro, examines one of the crypto industry's most persistent security threats: wallet drainers, the malicious scripts and phishing kits that trick users into signing transactions that empty their crypto wallets, often through fake airdrop sites, spoofed customer support, or compromised social media accounts.

The guest is Raz Niv, co-founder and chief technology officer of Blockaid, a security infrastructure company that builds real-time transaction and website screening tools designed to catch these scams before users approve them. Niv walks through how drainer-as-a-service operations have industrialized over the past couple of years, with groups selling ready-made phishing kits and drainer contracts to affiliates who then run the scams and split the stolen funds, a business model that has made these attacks cheaper to launch and harder to fully stamp out.

The conversation covers how major platforms, including Coinbase, have integrated Blockaid's detection technology directly into their wallet products to flag malicious transactions and suspicious dApp connections before a user signs anything, alongside MetaMask's rollout of similar alert technology across multiple blockchain networks. Niv discusses the broader arms race between security firms and attackers, noting that as detection tools improve, drainer operators continually adapt their techniques, which keeps pressure on wallets, exchanges, and browser extensions to update their defenses in near real time.

The episode also touches on practical steps everyday users can take to protect themselves, including maintaining good on-chain hygiene, scrutinizing permissions before connecting a wallet to an unfamiliar site, and treating too-good-to-be-true airdrops and giveaways with skepticism. Taken together, the conversation offers a clear-eyed look at how crypto's security infrastructure has matured to meet a threat that has cost users hundreds of millions of dollars, and where the fight against phishing and drainer networks is likely headed next as both sides keep escalating their tactics. Niv also discusses how collaboration between competing wallets, exchanges, and security vendors has become increasingly necessary, since drainer groups often target victims across multiple platforms simultaneously.