A wrong-network send is a custody problem, not a blockchain reverse. If you sent USDC on Polygon to an Ethereum-style address you control, the tokens are often sitting on Polygon at that same address — switch the wallet network and look. If you sent USDT on Tron to an Ethereum deposit, those are different ledgers; an exchange may or may not credit it via a ticket, and they are not obligated to. A missing XRP memo usually means the coins arrived at a pooled wallet with no customer name. Unsolicited “recovery services” that DM you after a loss are almost always a second theft.
The fork
Do you control the address?
The amount does not change the fork. A $20 mistake and a $2,000 mistake follow the same two questions.
- Who controls the receiving address? You, or an exchange?
- Do the two networks even share an address format? Ethereum, Polygon, Base, and Arbitrum usually do. Solana, Tron, TON, and Bitcoin do not.
Your wallet
If you sent to a wallet you control
Open that wallet. Switch it to the network you actually used — the one on the outgoing transaction, not the one you meant. Look at the same address.
On Ethereum-style chains this often works: the string you pasted is valid on several of those chains. The tokens are sitting on Polygon (or Base, or Arbitrum) even though you were staring at Ethereum.
Then stop. Do not send a second full amount “to try Ethereum this time” until you have looked. Bridging those tokens later is a new send, with a new checklist.
Their wallet
If you sent to an exchange
Only they can credit a deposit that landed on a network they did not list, or landed without a memo. Open a ticket on their official site — the URL you typed, not a link from a reply guy on Twitter.
Have this ready: transaction hash, asset, amount, network you sent on, network they expected, receiving address, date. They may charge a recovery fee. They may say no. They are not required to save a send they did not ask for.
Checked August 2026
Recovery queues and fees are each exchange’s policy. Coinbase, Kraken, Crypto.com, and Binance all change those pages. Use their current help article for the ticket form. Use this page so you do not hand a seed phrase to a stranger while you wait.
Different families
If the two networks are different families
A Solana address is not an Ethereum address, even if both are long strings. Tron and Bitcoin are their own ledgers too. Sending USDT on Tron to an Ethereum deposit address does not put USDT in that Ethereum wallet. If the destination was your own Ethereum wallet, look on Tron with a Tron-capable wallet that you already control — do not import a seed into a random “recovery” site to “check.”
Missing memo
Missing memo, tag, or destination tag
XRP, XLM, ATOM, and some other exchange deposits need a short code so the exchange knows which customer the coins belong to. Without it, the coins often sit in their pooled wallet with no name. That is an official ticket, not a second send, and not a third-party “unlock.”
Usual next step
Usual path after a wrong-network send
| What you did | Who has the keys | Usual next step |
|---|---|---|
| Polygon instead of Ethereum, your wallet | You | Switch the wallet to Polygon and look |
| Wrong network, exchange deposit | The exchange | Official ticket with the hash |
| USDT on Tron to an Ethereum address | Depends | Different ledgers — ticket or a Tron wallet you already control |
| Forgot the XRP memo | The exchange | Official ticket; do not send again |
Stop here
What not to do
- Do not send the full amount again while the first hash is still pending.
- Do not pay a recovery service that contacted you first.
- Do not paste a seed phrase, private key, or 2FA code into any page that offers to “trace” the funds.
- Do not use a DM support account. Type the exchange’s domain yourself.
Next send
So the next send does not repeat this
The checklist is on how to send crypto safely. Run the send crypto check before you sign. Fees come after the network is one they credit — cheapest way to send.