Sending and Receiving Crypto Safely

Before you send

1. Copy the destination address from the recipient's own deposit screen, never from your transaction history or a chat message.
2. Confirm the asset and the network match on both sides — the same token often exists on several networks.
3. Check that you hold enough of the network's native coin to pay the fee.
4. Paste the address, then compare the first six, last six and a group of middle characters against the source.
5. Send a small test amount to any new destination and wait for it to arrive.
6. Send the remainder only after the test confirms.

A test transfer costs one extra fee. A wrong-network transfer can cost the entire amount.

Receiving funds

• Generate the receiving address in your own wallet and share it directly; never accept an address someone else supplies for your deposit.
• Tell the sender exactly which network to use.
• Watch for exchange deposit tags or memos on networks that require them — omitting one can strand a deposit.
• Confirm arrival in your wallet or on a block explorer, not from a screenshot the sender provides.

Fees and timing

Network fees are paid to the network, not to your wallet provider, and they rise when block space is in demand. Most wallets let you choose a fee level; a lower fee means a longer wait, and on busy networks a very low fee can leave a transaction pending for a long time.

For Bitcoin specifically, current fee conditions are published on our fees page so you can judge whether now is an expensive moment to transact.

If you sent to the wrong network

Outcomes vary. Where the receiving service controls the destination address on the network you used, support can sometimes recover the funds, often for a fee and never as a guarantee. Where the address is not controlled by anyone on that network, the funds are unrecoverable.

Contact the receiving platform with the transaction hash, and be aware that 'recovery specialists' who approach you afterwards are a known follow-on scam.

Sources

• Ethereum developer documentation — Transactions
• CISA — Recognize and report phishing