What to Do If You Accidentally Sent Cryptocurrency to the Wrong Address

In most cases, it’s not possible to return cryptocurrency that was sent to the wrong address. Blockchain is a decentralized network without a central “controlling authority,” and once a transaction is confirmed, it cannot be canceled. There are no chargebacks or refunds for mistaken transfers, which means that crypto sent to the wrong address is usually lost permanently. Neither exchanges nor wallets (even hardware wallets) can reverse a transaction once it enters the blockchain.

Let's find out what you should do in different situations to save your crypto.

Situation 1: You Sent Crypto to Someone Else’s Valid Address

If you accidentally send coins to an address that belongs to someone else (for example, a completely different user), the chance of getting the money back is very low. In blockchain, there is no “cancel button”: the funds arrive at the recipient’s address, and only the owner of that wallet can send them back. Even if the address is valid, it’s almost impossible to identify who controls it.

If you used a self-custodial wallet, for example, Coin Wallet, you cannot undo or reverse a transaction. The only option is to try to contact the owner of the address if you somehow know who that is, but in most cases this is impossible.

If the funds were sent to an exchange address (Binance, Coinbase, etc.), the chance is a little higher. If you accidentally used someone else’s deposit address on a centralized exchange, you should immediately contact the exchange’s support team. Sometimes exchanges can “unfreeze” or manually return the tokens, but often they will tell you that they cannot identify the recipient or cannot help. This process can be slow, may require fees, and is not guaranteed.

What to do:
Check your transaction in a blockchain explorer. If the transaction is already confirmed, it cannot be reversed. If you know that the address belongs to an exchange, contact that exchange’s support with all details and the transaction ID. If the address belongs to a personal wallet, you will not be able to find the owner. For the future, always double-check the address before sending to avoid this issue.

Situation 2: You Sent Crypto to the Right Address but in the Wrong Network

Not only beginners often make this mistake: for example, sending ERC-20 tokens (Ethereum network) to an address on the BSC network (Binance Smart Chain), or the other way around. The address may look correct, but the network is wrong. In cases like this, the funds do not disappear — they arrive at the same address, but in a different network, where your wallet cannot show them.

What to do:

1. If you control the private keys for that address, you can switch to the correct network or import your private key into another multi-chain wallet to access the funds.
2. If you use a self-custodial wallet, you can change the network (from Ethereum to BSC) and see your “lost” tokens because the wallet address is the same across EVM-compatible networks. If the wallet doesn’t support the second network, you can export your private key and import it into another multi-network wallet, then send the tokens back to the correct network.
3. You can also use a bridge (cross-chain bridge) to move the tokens back to the blockchain where you need them.

If you send funds to an exchange, this becomes more complicated. Some exchanges may help manually credit your funds to your account if the deposit was made using the wrong network, but this often requires contacting support, waiting, and possibly paying a fee. Other exchanges may simply state that recovery is not possible.

Situation 3: You Sent Crypto to a Non-Existent or Incorrect Address

Sometimes a transfer fails because the address is incorrect (for example, there is a typo or an invalid character). In this case, the transaction usually does not go through. The wallet or blockchain nodes check the format of the address, and if the address is invalid, the transaction is rejected and your funds remain in your wallet.

If the address is invalid, the transaction will not be executed, and your money will stay in your account. You can simply check your wallet again and the funds should still be available.

If the address is technically valid but belongs to no one, this can happen if you typed random characters that still fit the correct address format. The transaction will succeed, but no one controls that address. In that case, the funds are permanently lost, and you cannot recover them.

If the mistake happened during a deposit to an exchange, sometimes funds get “stuck” because of technical issues. In these cases, you may contact the exchange’s support team, provide the transaction hash, and ask them to manually complete the deposit. But if the address was completely incorrect and does not belong to the exchange, they cannot help.

What to do:
Check the transaction status in a blockchain explorer. If it is not confirmed or was rejected, your funds are still in your wallet. If it is confirmed but went to a valid but unknown address, there is no way to return the funds except through support if the address belongs to an exchange.

How to Avoid These Mistakes in the Future

To prevent these situations, follow these simple rules before every transfer:

• Double-check the address. Make sure the full address is correct and that you chose the right network. Copy and paste the address, and verify the first and last characters.

• Send a small test transfer first. Before sending a large amount, send a tiny amount to make sure everything is working.

• Use multi-network wallets. Wallets that support multiple blockchains can help you view and manage tokens across different networks. Welcome to Coin Wallet community 😎

• Check the supported networks on exchanges. When sending crypto to an exchange, always make sure the deposit network matches exactly; exchanges usually show “ERC-20,” “BEP-20,” “TRC-20” near each deposit address.

In the end, recovering funds is possible only in very rare cases. For recovery to work, you would need either to control the private keys of the destination wallet or get help from a centralized exchange that can manually restore the funds. In all other cases, mistaken transactions cannot be reversed because of how blockchain works. The best protection is caution: always check the address and network carefully before sending.