How to send crypto — address, network and memo

What you need to send crypto

Before the transfer, gather three things:

• the recipient's address, copied from their wallet or from an exchange's deposit page;
• which network the recipient expects the transfer on, plus the memo if they gave you one;
• a little of that network's coin for the fee, if you are sending from your own wallet.

A network coin is a network's own crypto, used to pay its fee: ETH on Ethereum, TRX on Tron, SOL on Solana. The network usually takes its fee in this coin even when you send a different crypto, such as USDT, much as the post office charges for delivery separately from whatever is inside the parcel. If your wallet does not have enough of it, the transfer usually fails², so buy a little of this coin in advance or move some to the same wallet. Ways to lower the fee, and which wallets can take it in the same crypto you are sending, are covered in the article on network fees. When you withdraw from an exchange, you usually do not need the network coin in your balance: the exchange shows its own withdrawal fee on the withdrawal page.

How to send crypto step by step

This is how a transfer looks in a wallet app such as Trust Wallet². On an exchange, the withdrawal section opens the same kind of form.

1. In your wallet, open the crypto you are sending and tap "Send".
2. If the wallet or exchange offers a list of networks, pick the one the recipient named.
3. Paste the recipient's address and check all of it once it is pasted.
4. If the recipient gave you a memo, enter it in its own field.
5. Enter the amount. Make the first transfer to a new address a small test.
6. On the confirmation screen, check the address, the network, the amount and the network fee, then confirm.
7. Once the recipient sees the test transfer, send the rest the same way.

How to check the recipient's address

Copy the address in full rather than typing it, because one wrong character is enough to send the transfer to the wrong place. You can also scan the recipient's QR code with your wallet's camera, and then there is nothing to copy.

A copied address can be swapped by malware that watches your clipboard and replaces the address you copied with a scammer's³. Antivirus software may miss it, so check the address after pasting, all of it, including the middle³. Scammers also generate addresses with the same beginning and end and slip them into your transfer history⁴; the article phishing and scams shows how this trick works.

An address you send to often is worth checking once and saving in your wallet's address book, its list of saved addresses, so you never take it from the transfer history⁴. A hardware wallet, a separate device that stores the key, usually shows the recipient's address on its own screen before you confirm⁴, and that is the address to compare.

How to choose the network for a transfer

The recipient chooses the network. The transfer goes through the network you selected in the form, and it arrives only if the recipient's wallet or exchange accepts this crypto on this network². Think of networks as different courier companies: a letter handed to one of them will never turn up at another's office, even if the envelope carries an identical address.

Sometimes the address itself hints at the network. On Tron it starts with the letter "T"⁵, on Ethereum with "0x"⁶. An address starting with "0x" looks the same on Ethereum and on several other networks, such as BNB Chain (exchanges also label it BNB Smart Chain or BSC). Such an address works on each of them, so the transfer form usually will not catch a wrong network. You cannot tell the network from a "0x" address: ask the recipient for the network's name in words and pick exactly that one from the list.

When the choice is yours, for instance when moving crypto between your own wallets, take a network that both sides support and compare the fee on the confirmation screen.

How to pick a network for USDT, which exists on several networks at once, is covered in the guide how to send USDT.

When you need a memo

A memo memo is needed where one address receives transfers from many people, for example at an exchange that gives all its customers one shared address and tells them apart only by memo⁷. A letter without a flat number will reach the apartment building, yet the mail carrier will have no idea which mailbox to put it in.

Not every network uses a memo. With no memo, or with a wrong one, a transfer can be delayed or lost⁷. So if an exchange shows a memo next to the address, copy it every time and exactly. If it shows none, leave the field empty. A transfer to your own wallet usually needs no memo, because that address has a single owner⁷.

Why make a test transfer

A test transfer is a small amount sent first to a new address⁷. It costs one extra network fee, and in return you see any mistake while only a little money is at stake. If the test amount does not arrive, do not repeat the transfer blindly; first find the original one in a block explorer.

What to do if a transfer has not arrived or went to the wrong place

Start with the transaction hash transaction hash: this is the transfer's number on the network. A wallet shows it in the transaction history, an exchange in the withdrawal history. With this number you find the transfer in a block explorer, a website where any transfer can be seen: whether it is confirmed, which network it went through and to which address. In a wallet, a link to the explorer is usually in the transfer details, as in MetaMask⁸.

The transfer is taking a long time

If the explorer marks the transfer as pending, the network has not processed it yet. This happens when the fee is low and the network is busy⁸. Whether such a transfer can be sped up or cancelled, and why a fee is sometimes charged for a failed transaction, is explained in the article what is gas. If the explorer shows the transfer as confirmed, sent to the right address on the right network, yet the exchange has not credited it, contact the exchange's support and give them the transaction hash.

The transfer went without a memo or on the wrong network

You cannot get back on your own a transfer that reached an exchange deposit address deposit address with no memo, or over a network the exchange does not accept at that address. The key to such an address, the secret code for sending from it, is held by the exchange. Contact the support team of the exchange that received the transfer and include the transaction hash, the amount, the date and the deposit address⁷⁹. Support does not promise to recover the funds and charges a fee in some cases⁹.

If a transfer to a "0x…" address went out on the wrong network but to your own wallet, the crypto is usually sitting at the same address on the other network. Add that network in your wallet and switch to it, and the transfer will show up. The article what is EVM explains why.

The transfer went to someone else's address

Such a transfer cannot be cancelled. Only the recipient can return the crypto, by sending it back¹. If the address belongs to an exchange, there is a chance through its support. If a scammer slipped you the address, the steps to take are in the article on phishing and scams.

Frequently asked questions

More detail on the memo on the XRP Ledger

On the XRP Ledger, the memo is called a destination tag⁷. By default the network lets a transfer through without a tag, and then the exchange does not know whom to credit¹².