Sending Stablecoins and Choosing a Network

Why the network choice matters

• Fees differ substantially between networks for an identical transfer.
• Confirmation times differ.
• Not every exchange or wallet supports every network for every asset.
• The fee is paid in the network's native coin, which you must hold.
• Sending to an unsupported network is the most common way stablecoin transfers are lost.

A safe transfer routine

1. Open the recipient's deposit screen and read which networks it accepts for that exact asset.
2. Select the same network on the sending side; if you cannot, stop and choose a different route.
3. Confirm you hold enough of that network's native coin for the fee.
4. Copy the address from the deposit screen, then verify the first, middle and last characters after pasting.
5. Add any required memo or tag — omitting one can strand a deposit.
6. Send a small test amount first, confirm arrival, then send the rest.

The test transfer is cheap insurance. A wrong-network stablecoin transfer is frequently unrecoverable.

What happens when the network is wrong

If the receiving platform controls the destination address on the network you actually used, recovery is sometimes possible through support, often for a fee and never as a guarantee. If nobody controls that address on that network, the funds cannot be retrieved.

Anyone who contacts you offering paid recovery afterwards should be treated as a follow-on scam.

Cost planning

Compare three separate costs before moving stablecoins: the sending platform's withdrawal fee, the underlying network fee, and any conversion spread if the asset changes form along the way. Our fee percentage calculator helps you see what a flat fee means as a share of the amount being moved.

Sources

• Ethereum developer documentation — ERC-20 token standard
• Ethereum developer documentation — Transactions