Comparing exchange accounts to a vault equipped with biometric protection is spot on—fingerprint and facial scans layered for maximum security. However, many people, for the sake of convenience, actually hand over their API keys (the "master key" to the vault) to strangers and naively believe this is a free benefit. By 2025, in the Web3 ecosystem where AI trading bots are everywhere, this key is becoming the main culprit behind investors losing everything.

Investors seeking trading convenience or using copy trading tools are easily falling into the "free API service" trap. Their logic sounds reasonable—just disable withdrawal permissions, and everything should be fine, right? But this very idea is what hackers love to see.

An API is essentially a communication channel between the exchange and external programs. Even if withdrawal permissions are disabled, as long as trading permissions remain, your assets are no different from items stored in a transparent cabinet—completely exposed. Hackers don’t need to go through the trouble of stealing your coins directly; they have a more cunning method—"hedge harvesting." The operation works like this: first, they pile up large sell orders on obscure trading pairs to push the price down, then, using API permissions obtained from multiple victims, they simultaneously place buy orders at high levels, causing a price surge. During this process, the victim’s assets are wildly looted, while the actual withdrawal has long been covertly transferred through hidden channels.

This tactic is effective because most people lack proper understanding of API permission management. Compared to direct theft, this method is more covert and harder to trace. So, don’t blindly trust the "just turn off withdrawal to stay safe" half-baked protection anymore. Before embracing the convenience of automated trading, ask yourself: does this third-party service provider really deserve your trust?