Sent Crypto on the Wrong Network? What to Do Next
Sending crypto on the wrong network, or to the wrong address, is one of the most common and stressful mistakes in crypto. What happens next depends on exactly what went wrong. This guide helps you work out which case you are in, what can and can't be recovered, and how to avoid the scammers who target people in this position.
By Global Relief Group · Last updated:
Do this first
- Don’t send again to “fix” it. A second transaction won’t undo the first.
- Find the transaction ID (also called the transaction hash or TxID) in your exchange or wallet. Our guide to finding your transaction ID shows where.
- Look it up on a block explorer to see which network it went through and which address received it.
- If it was a donation to us, contact us with the transaction ID, the coin, the network and the amount.
- Never share your recovery phrase or private key with anyone offering to help.
Which case are you in?
“Wrong network” covers several different mistakes. Your transaction on the explorer tells you which one happened:
| What happened | Example | Where the crypto is | Can it be recovered? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right address, wrong network | USDC sent on Base or BNB Smart Chain to our 0x address instead of Ethereum | At our address, but on the other network | Often, because we control that address on every network |
| Right network, a coin we don’t accept | USDT on Ethereum sent to our 0x address | At our address on that network | Often, for the same reason |
| A coin we accept, but not the one you chose | TRX sent instead of USDT to our T address | At our address | Yes: it is still a valid donation. Tell us which coin you sent |
| Wrong address | A typo, an old address, or a look-alike address copied from your history | At someone else’s address | Not by us. Only the owner of that address can return it |
| Sent to a user, not an address | “Send to Binance user” or a Coinbase send by email | Still inside the exchange | Ask the exchange: it never reached the blockchain |
Mistakes between networks with completely different address formats, such as Bitcoin and TRON, are less common, because many exchanges and wallets check that the address matches the network you picked. Don’t rely on that check: always confirm the network yourself.
What we can do for a donation sent the wrong way
Our donation addresses are private wallets that we control. That matters because an Ethereum-style 0x address is the same on Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Base, Arbitrum and many other networks: if a donation lands at our address on the “wrong” one of these, it is still in a wallet we hold, just on a different network. MetaMask’s own guidance says the same: if you control the receiving address, tokens sent on the wrong network can usually be reached by switching to that network.
Reaching them still takes manual work. We may need to buy a small amount of that network’s coin to pay the fee for moving them, and a token on another network may be a bridged version rather than the original, which can limit what can be done with it. So recovery is often possible but never guaranteed. Contact us with the transaction ID and we will tell you what we find.
If the crypto went to an address that isn’t ours, we can’t reach it. Nobody can move crypto out of an address without its private key.
Can a blockchain transaction be reversed?
Once a transaction is confirmed, no. There is no bank or card company in the middle that can pull it back. The only exceptions are transactions that are still pending:
- Ethereum-style networks: wallets such as MetaMask can try to cancel or replace a pending transaction by sending a new one in its place. It only works while the original is still pending, and success isn’t guaranteed.
- Bitcoin: an unconfirmed transaction can sometimes be replaced with a higher fee (replace-by-fee), redirecting the funds, if your wallet supports it. Once it confirms, that option is gone.
Most transactions on TRON, Solana, the XRP Ledger and BNB Smart Chain confirm within seconds, so in practice there is rarely time.
If you sent to an exchange by mistake
If your crypto went to an exchange’s deposit address on the wrong network, or without the memo or tag the exchange needed, contact that exchange’s support. Some run recovery services, usually for a fee and with no guarantee. Kraken, for example, charges $200 to recover an unsupported token sent on a supported network and $500 for an asset on an unsupported network, and Binance.US charges a 5% processing fee to recover deposits sent without a memo (both as of their help pages in 2026). Policies change, so check the exchange’s current help pages.
Beware of recovery scams
People who have lost crypto are a favourite target. Fake “recovery services”, fake law firms and fake support accounts promise to get your money back for a fee, then take that too. The FBI reported in 2024 that fake law firms took more than $9.9 million from people who had already been scammed, and in 2025 warned that its Internet Crime Complaint Center will never contact you directly or ask for payment to recover lost funds. The US Federal Trade Commission’s advice is simple: never pay upfront for help getting money back.
The one rule
Nobody needs your recovery phrase or private key to help you. Anyone who asks for it, including someone claiming to be from an exchange, a wallet company or a charity, is trying to steal from you. If you need to reach us, use our contact page, not a message from an account that contacted you first.
How to avoid it next time
- Read the network on our donation screen and choose exactly that one, even if your app suggests a cheaper network. Our guide to choosing the right network lists them all.
- Copy our address fresh from our site each time; never from your transaction history, where scammers plant look-alike addresses.
- Check the whole address, including the middle characters.
- For a large gift, send a small test amount first and check it arrived.
Common questions
Will I get a receipt for a donation that went to the wrong network?
Contact us with the transaction ID. We issue receipts for donations we have received and verified, so we will explain where things stand once we have looked into it.
Can I get a refund instead?
Crypto donations can’t be reversed once confirmed, and we can’t move crypto out of addresses we don’t control. Contact us and we will tell you what is possible in your case.
I sent to a look-alike address. What should I do?
Report it to the exchange or wallet you used, and to the authorities in your country (in the US, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center). Recovery is unlikely, so beware of anyone promising otherwise for a fee.