Beginner mistakes in crypto and how to avoid them
Sending on the wrong network
The same crypto often travels on several networks. Tether, for example, issues USDT on Ethereum, Tron, Solana, TON and other networks2, so the wallet or exchange asks you to pick a network from a list in the transfer window. The mistake looks like this: you choose the network that is listed first or charges the lower fee, while the recipient was expecting the transfer on another one. In a block explorer, the website where any transfer can be seen, it shows as completed, yet nothing has appeared for the recipient. It is like a parcel sent through a delivery company that does not serve the recipient's city: it is lying somewhere, just not where it is expected. How USDT differs from one network to another is explained in the article token standards.
What to do after such a mistake depends on where the transfer went. If it went to a personal wallet, yours or the recipient's, and the address starts with "0x", the money usually turns up. Such an address is the same on Ethereum and on networks built the same way, so the transfer becomes visible once the wallet is switched to the network it was sent on3. The article what is EVM explains why the address is shared. If the address belongs to an exchange, only its support can return the transfer, not always and sometimes for a fee. Write to them and attach the transaction hash transaction hash, the transfer's number from your wallet's history. In other cases the money most likely cannot be recovered3.
To get the network right, ask the recipient which network they expect the transfer on and pick the same one in the list. An exchange states the network next to the address on its deposit page; a person will tell you. Make the first transfer to a new recipient a small test amount. The steps for sending are covered in the guide how to send crypto, and choosing a network for USDT in the guide how to send USDT.
A lost or exposed seed phrase
A seed phrase is usually 12 or 24 words from which a wallet can be restored on another device and in another app, provided that app understands such a phrase. The article what is a seed phrase explains how it works. People lose it when they skipped writing the words down while creating the wallet, and then the phone broke or went missing. People expose it when they trust scammers. Someone gets a message from "support", a link to "verify the wallet", or a paper letter with a QR code leading to a site with a field for the words. Letters like this, sent in Ledger's name, reached owners of its wallets in 2025 and 2026, although neither the company nor its support ever asks for these words4.
If a stranger has seen the phrase, it cannot be changed for the existing wallet. Create a new wallet with a new seed phrase and move all your crypto there at once. If the phrase is gone but the wallet still opens on your phone, move the crypto to a new wallet while you still have access: the wallet's developer cannot restore the phrase for you5. The step-by-step transfer is described in the section on leaks and loss in the article what is a seed phrase.
Write the phrase down by hand as soon as you create the wallet, and put the record where you keep important documents. A photo, the cloud and messages to yourself will not do. Enter the phrase only in your own wallet app or on your own device's screen when restoring access, and never tell it to anyone, including staff of the company that made the wallet5.
No network coin for the fee
Your wallet holds USDT, but when you try to send it, the wallet says there is not enough for the fee. The reason is that a network's fee is paid in its own coin: on Ethereum that is ETH6, on Tron it is TRX7. The network does not take its fee in USDT itself, because USDT is a token, that is, crypto issued on top of someone else's network (what is a token). Think of a parcel: you pay the post office separately for shipping, and whatever is inside does not count towards the delivery charge, however valuable it is.
Your USDT has not gone anywhere. Get a little of that network's coin to the same address, such as ETH on Ethereum or TRX on Tron, and try the transfer again. You can buy it on an exchange and withdraw it to your address on the same network.
Before your first transfer of USDT or another token, check that your wallet holds the coin of the network the token sits on. The wallet will show the fee before you confirm.
Certain methods and apps help lower the fee or pay it in the same crypto you are sending, such as USDT, but only on some networks8. What the fee depends on and how these methods work is covered in the article on network fees.
Rushing and scammers
Scammers rush people so that they act before they have had time to think9. In practice this is "support" asking you to verify your wallet urgently, a promise to double any crypto you send, or an "investment platform" where your earnings grow on screen while a "special offer" lasts. Only scammers guarantee profits or big returns1. In the United States in 2025, this kind of crypto investment fraud caused more losses than any other type of internet crime10.
If you have already sent money or given away your seed phrase, stop the conversation and pay nothing more, neither for a "withdrawal" nor for a "refund". The steps in order, from moving your crypto to filing a police report, are laid out in the article phishing and scams. If you pressed "Confirm" in your wallet on a suspicious site and gave it a permission, the article safety when connecting a wallet explains how to revoke it.
Any "urgent" is a reason to stop. Break off the conversation, open the service's website or app yourself, without the link you were sent, and check everything there. Resist the pressure and talk the situation over with someone you trust: an honest business gives you time to decide9.
All your crypto on an exchange without a deliberate choice
After the first purchase, crypto is often left on the exchange because it is convenient and needs no setup. While it is there, the exchange controls it: you see the balance, but you can take it out only through the exchange. If the exchange is hacked, shuts down or goes bankrupt, you may lose access to what is held there11. In the United States, for example, crypto in accounts is not insured by the government the way dollars in a bank deposit are ⚖️1. Your own wallet carries a different risk: a lost key, the secret code used to approve transfers, means losing access forever11. So decide for yourself what to keep on the exchange and what in your own wallet.
If everything is on the exchange right now, you do not need to move it all at once. Work out how much you need for swaps and purchases in the near future; the rest can go to your own wallet, after you have written down its seed phrase and sent a test amount.
Hold on the exchange just what you plan to trade or will soon sell or swap, and keep the rest in your own wallet. Guidance on amounts and how often you transfer is in the article hot vs cold crypto wallet, the moving procedure in the guide how to store crypto, and what to look at when choosing an exchange in how to choose a crypto exchange.
