What happens if I send to the wrong network?

Usually the funds are unrecoverable. When they aren't, and what to check first.

Usually the funds are unrecoverable, but not always — and which case you are in depends on one thing: whether anybody holds the key to the address they landed on.

Sent to an exchange on the wrong network. The coins are at an address the exchange controls. Some will recover them for a fee, some will not, and their support queue decides your timeline. Ask politely, provide the transaction hash, and be prepared for no.

Sent to your own address on the wrong network. Usually recoverable by you. Many networks share the same address format, and the same key controls that address on all of them. Add the network in your wallet and the balance appears — you will need a small amount of that network's native coin to pay the fee to move it.

Sent to an address nobody controls. Gone. There is no process and no service that changes this.

Notice that every good outcome depends on somebody having the key. That is the thread running through all of it.

What prevents the whole problem is a habit rather than knowledge: send a small test amount first, every time, to every new address. The page on networks and addresses explains why the mistake is so easy to make.

Last checked 19 Oct 2026.