re are many different cryptocurrencies and blockchain networks in the cryptocurrency market.
So when you make a transaction, you can accidentally send coins to the wrong address, which can happen to anyone, even experienced users.
As the addresses of some cryptocurrencies belonging to different networks are compatible with each other, it is quite common to send coins to a different network by mistake.
In this guide, I will give you information on common mistakes in cryptocurrency transactions and show you how to get back the coins sent to the wrong address.
How to recover Bitcoin sent to a Bitcoin Cash address?
Bitcoin Cash has mainly two address formats: legacy address and CashAddr address (cash address).
CashAddr is the new address format for Bitcoin Cash and is different from the address format for Bitcoin.
refore, you simply cannot send Bitcoin to a CashAddr address as the BTC and CashAddr address format are not compatible with each other.
But the legacy Bitcoin Cash address format, which looks like a normal Bitcoin address, is still widely used. refore, you can send Bitcoin to a Bitcoin Cash address by mistake.
If the Bitcoin Cash address you have sent Bitcoin to belongs to an exchange, you must contact the exchange and provide relevant information such as TXID.
Depending on the policy of the exchange, your coins can be recovered with a certain amount of fee that will be used to cover the transaction fees or they will be stuck at the address forever.
If you own the Bitcoin Cash address and also the private key, you can simply import your private key into a Bitcoin wallet like Electrum and get your Bitcoin back.
How to recover Bitcoin sent to an Ethereum address?
Since the Bitcoin and Ethereum address formats are not compatible with each other, you basically cannot send Bitcoin to an Ethereum address.
But there are some exceptions to that. First, there are some ERC20 tokens that are backed by and represent Bitcoin, such as WBTC and BBTC.
Second, if you are withdrawing from an exchange, even if the transaction has not gone through, the Bitcoin you are trying to withdraw could be deducted from your balance, which is very rare.
If you have sent tokens like WBTC and BBTC to an Ethereum address, you can simply ask the exchange to return the tokens to your Ethereum address if they are not supported by the exchange.
How to retrieve the tokens sent to the BEP20 address?
BEP20 tokens on Binance Smart Chain have an address format that looks like and is compatible with Ethereum addresses.
On top of that, the transaction fees on Binance Smart Chain are extremely low compared to the Ethereum network, which is known for its very high gas fees.
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So you can send ETH or tokens to a BEP20 address by mistake just because they use the same address format or because of the low transaction fees offered by the BSC network.
When you withdraw Ethereum or an ERC20 token from Binance, you may be wrong due to the low fees and withdraw tokens using BEP20 as your transfer network.
Although there are reminders on Binance’s withdrawal page about the transfer network, it could still happen and there are a few ways to get back the tokens withdrawn with BEP20.
If you have the private key for your Ethereum address, you can import it into a cryptocurrency wallet that supports Binance Smart Chain, such as Trust Wallet and MetaMask.
After importing your private key into a wallet that supports the BSC network, you must also send some BNB to that address to cover transaction fees.
Binance Coin (BNB) is used to pay transaction fees on Binance Smart Chain. If you use Binance, you can withdraw some BNB using the BEP20 network to that address.
Once you have enough BNB in your wallet, you can send the token to any BEP20 address you want.
If you want to transfer it back to your Binance account, you must first obtain your BEP20 deposit address for that token on Binance.
Sometimes the token may not be visible in your MetaMask wallet even though you have connected MetaMask to Binance Smart Chain.
In that case, you have to add the token to your MetaMask wallet manually using the “custom token” option. To learn how to add a custom token to MetaMask, you can refer to our MetaMask tutorial.
If you do not own the private key to your Ethereum address, you should contact the provider of that address, be it an exchange or a custodial wallet.
To learn how to use and trade on Binance, check out the tutorials below:
How to recover BEP20 tokens sent to MetaMask?
If you use MetaMask to store Ethereum and ERC20 tokens, you can easily retrieve BEP20 tokens sent to an Ethereum address in MetaMask.
Let’s say you have accidentally transferred BEP20 USDT or BEP20 ETH to your MetaMask wallet, the recovery process for these BEP20 tokens is quite simple and straightforward.
First log into your MetaMask wallet by unlocking it and then click on “Ethereum Mainnet”. After that, click on “Custom RPC” among the network options to add Binance Smart Chain.
Add Binance Smart Chain to your MetaMask wallet by entering the following information:
- Network Name: Smart Chain
- New RPC URL: https://bsc-dataseed.binance.org/
- String ID: 56
- Symbol: BNB
- Block Explorer URL: https://bscscan.com
You have now connected your MetaMask wallet to Binance Smart Chain. But, the BEP20 token that you have transferred to your Ethereum address may not be visible yet.
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In that case, you have to manually add that token to MetaMask using the “custom token” option in MetaMask.
To add a custom BEP20 token to MetaMask, click the “add token” button and then click the “custom token” tab in MetaMask.
Let’s say you want to add BEP20 USDT to MetaMask, you can get contract address, token symbol and decimals from BscScan.
First visit BscScan and then find the BEP20 token that you have transferred to MetaMask by mistake and want to add it to MetaMask manually.
You can see the contract address and other token information you want to add to MetaMask as shown in the image below.
Adding BEP20 USDT to MetaMask:
- Token contract address: 0x55d398326f99059ff775485246999027b3197955
- Token symbol: BUSD-T
- Decimals: 18
After adding the BEP20 token to MetaMask manually, you can see the token and the balance in your MetaMask wallet.
If you want to transfer it to another BEP20 address, you need Binance Coin (BNB) at your address to cover transaction fees.
You can withdraw a small amount of BNB from Binance using the BSC network (BEP20) to your Ethereum / BEP20 address.
After that, you can transfer the token to Binance or any other BEP20 address. If you want to transfer it to a cryptocurrency exchange, make sure the exchange supports BEP20 deposits.
You can also use Binance Bridge to transfer your BEP20 tokens to the Ethereum network.
Shipping XRP without a tag
If you have sent XRP to an exchange without a tag or with the wrong tag, you must contact the exchange and provide TXID and other details about your transaction.
When you don’t use any tags in your XRP transaction, your coins are not lost. But, since there is no label on the transaction, the exchange cannot identify the owner of the coins.
As a result of that, the coins will not be credited to your account even if the transaction is successful.
You just need to contact support and provide the required information about your deposit. Once you have done that, the coins should be credited to your account.
If you use Binance, you can use this form to submit an asset recovery request.
Stellar shipping without MEMO
Cryptocurrency exchanges require users to include a MEMO in their Stellar transfers to identify the sender and credit the coins to the correct account.
If you have made a Stellar transfer to an exchange without a MEMO, you must contact the exchange’s support and provide the required information about your deposit.
How to retrieve Tether (USDT) sent to a Bitcoin address?
Tether uses the Omni protocol which is based on Bitcoin and has the same address format as Bitcoin.
This is why it is possible to send USDT to a Bitcoin address by mistake.
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USDT is also available on other blockchains such as Ethereum, Tron, and Binance Smart Chain. But, if you are using an OMNI address, that error can occur.
If you have sent USDT to an exchange’s Bitcoin address by mistake, you should contact support. But your USDT is less likely to rally as the networks are different.
Although it is technically possible to recover USDT sent to a Bitcoin address by mistake, when you send a coin to a totally different blockchain, the exchanges are less useful.
If it is your own Bitcoin address and you have the private key, you can import your private key into OmniWallet and access your USDT.
best cryptocurrency wallets for security
While you may accidentally send your cryptocurrencies to the wrong address, what’s even worse is getting hacked and losing most or all of your cryptocurrencies.
If you don’t have a secure cryptocurrency wallet and you use computers that are connected to the internet, you can get hacked and lose your coins.
safest cryptocurrency wallets that you can use are hardware wallets. If you don’t have a hardware wallet yet, check out our Ledger Nano X review below.
You can also use other wallets like MetaMask and Trust Wallet, but make sure your computer or mobile device is safe and you don’t download random files that can infect your device.
Unlike hardware wallets, desktop and mobile cryptocurrency wallets, also known as software wallets, are connected to the internet and are more vulnerable to cyberattacks.
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