The most common mistakes in Blockchain — Deposit to a wrong address

[elyorman]

Hello guys.
As one of new ones in the industry of crypto I have been spending most of my time to read various articles on the internet and I would like to share one with you as it could be very handy for many beginners. The article very clearly and shortly explains one of the common mistakes in blockchain transactions (depositing/transferring to a wrong address). Here is the link to the article.
 https://medium.com/grabityio/the-most-common-mistakes-deposit-to-a-wrong-address-fb7e71684fb8

[1715133274]

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[1715133274]

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[ReiMomo]

That was a piece of basic information here, I would advise to doubled check the address before you send your coin. The first 3 digit numbers/letters and the last 3 digit numbers or letter should you check. Unless, if your laptop has been infected with a virus when you are copy/pasting will have a different address appeared. Explore here in the Beginners & Help section will give you more information and guides.

Here is the list of useful thread here in this section, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5149708.0
Pinned message regarding crypto wallets, https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1631151.0

[bitmover]

It is a very basic article.

The thing is that when you send fiat to the incorrect address the transaction can be reversed. This doesn't happen in blockchain.

Also, there are fewer regulations, so when you send to an incorrect address that belongs to an exchange, they are not obligated to give your money back (it may also be difficult for them, due to security reasons).

So, just double or triple check before sending

[elyorman]

It is a very basic article.

The thing is that when you send fiat to the incorrect address the transaction can be reversed. This doesn't happen in blockchain.

Also, there are fewer regulations, so when you send to an incorrect address that belongs to an exchange, they are not obligated to give your money back (it may also be difficult for them, due to security reasons).

So, just double or triple check before sending

yes agree with you. It's very basic but this mistake still remains being common. Especially, people who had been trading with fiat currencies or in traditional stock exchanges would make this common mistake thinking it's pretty similar to the market they have been working in. So I thought someone could learn a bit from this article.

[Dabs]

If you are using something like a mobile wallet that can scan QR codes, use that. I would also double check the first few letters and the last few letters as someone else suggested. If it's a rather large amount, I would check the whole address, even though the first 10 characters would be enough as a quick glance.

Remember that there are vanity address generators that can mimic the first 3 or 4 letters and you'd think you had the correct address when it is actually a different one.

[mk4]

Also, there are fewer regulations, so when you send to an incorrect address that belongs to an exchange, they are not obligated to give your money back (it may also be difficult for them, due to security reasons).

Just to add more information on this, it's indeed possible, but if we aren't talking about thousands of dollars or more worth, you might not gain access back to your coins/tokens(as it's not worth the fees). Some exchanges sure do return funds through such mistakes, but it will most likely cost a good amount of money because they'd need to do some things that could be a problem for them in terms of security.

[Velkro]

That was a piece of basic information here, I would advise to doubled check the address before you send your coin.

Isn't it obvious for everyone? If you send bank transfer you also check account number at least once more, same in bitcoin.
Wallets also help in this, not sure if every wallet, but many have window to confirm transaction again.

Its same problem all the time, some just are reckless and you can't win with it not matter how many helping hands you give.

[3 angle]

If you are using something like a mobile wallet that can scan QR codes, use that. I would also double check the first few letters and the last few letters as someone else suggested. If it's a rather large amount, I would check the whole address, even though the first 10 characters would be enough as a quick glance.

Remember that there are vanity address generators that can mimic the first 3 or 4 letters and you'd think you had the correct address when it is actually a different one.

Oh, my God! One more knowledge I got here.
Previously, I did not know about the "vanity address generator".
Thank you, this is important knowledge, another reason to increase my vigilance.

[Harlot]

That's why the best way of avoiding this is actually to double if not triply check the address you are sending, even before that you must always copy and paste directly the address on where you are sending the money to as it is much easier than typing it and every wallet I know has the option to copy the whole address directly. For the newbies reading this you must be aware that copying and pasting the address isn't enough of an assurance that you have in fact the right address recently there was a clipboard virus aka the copy/paste virus where even if you copied the right address the one you will be pasting will be a different one that is why you need to be observant and see if you are sending in the right address.

[nelson4lov]

Don't forget few exchanges which offer to return your funds might ask some "recovery fees". For example, Bittrex will charge 0.1 BTC for recovery process.

Source : https://support.bittrex.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000961172

That's pretty huge. I just read through the article and crosschain wrong tx cost 0.1BTC. Other types of recovery require 0.25BTC and the minimum amount they allow for recovery is $5000. – A wrong Tx like $100 will be lost, forever.

Binance on the other hand can recover it free of charge (If the coin lost is on Binance Chain) . All they need is your details for them to verify if truly the funds are yours.

It's better to properly check deposit address before sending btc/alts and avoid the recovery stress and everything. I've been a victim and it isn't funny as there's a possibility of the exchange in question not recovering it.

[Bountyhonter]

Scanning Qr code is the best way to avoid sending to the wrong address and copy/paste of the address is also a good way as long as you don't have any virus on your device that can change the copied address that's why it's advisable to always confim the address before hitting the send button.

[mk4]

That's pretty huge. I just read through the article and crosschain wrong tx cost 0.1BTC. Other types of recovery require 0.25BTC and the minimum amount they allow for recovery is $5000. – A wrong Tx like $100 will be lost, forever.

Binance on the other hand can recover it free of charge (If the coin lost is on Binance Chain) . All they need is your details for them to verify if truly the funds are yours.

It's better to properly check deposit address before sending btc/alts and avoid the recovery stress and everything. I've been a victim and it isn't funny as there's a possibility of the exchange in question not recovering it.

Sure is expensive, but it's to be expected really. Manually recovering funds requires a certain good amount of time and manpower, and could risk certain aspects of their security, hence the fees. In the first place, I don't get how people are so careless with sending funds that are irreversible. It literally takes like 3-5 seconds to double check an address.

[yazher]

Even though that scenario is next to impossible, I saw a lot of people asking if they can reverse back what they send on a wrong Altcoin address.
Like in the past month I saw someone mistakenly sent his Tether (USDT) to another Altcoin Adress. He is asking if he can get it back months past since I saw that thread, nothing has changed he didn't get it back.

Anyway, those kinds of posts and this one, will make us aware of what might happen if you mess up on Depositing our Altcoins. You will never get it back it's almost impossible too unless you know how to reverse the transactions.

[mk4]

You will never get it back it's almost impossible too unless you know how to reverse the transactions.

Unless the transaction is still unconfirmed(hence could be recoverable through a doublespend) or if for example you sent a certain token to an exchange's ETH address(and not the token address), you can't.

[joniboini]

Previously, I did not know about the "vanity address generator".

If you got hacked with clipboard malware, then the chance they use vanitygen is probably less than if somebody hacks your computer and provides a different wallet address for you. It takes time to generate an address, it might slow down your computer, and so it will be apparent if something goes wrong.

Unless the transaction is still unconfirmed(hence could be recoverable through a doublespend)

This is technically replacing a transaction with another, so, some might argue it's not 'reversing' any transaction at all. But yeah, it could work.

[tranthidung]

If someone seriously care about their money, they will do spend a little seconds to check addresses before sending. They can check all letters of addresses or they can simply check first 3, last 3, and middle 3 letters of their addresses (people already guided above).

Some exchanges also require to confirm transactions (amount, address) through emails before excecuting transactions.
Therefore, people will have to do two other steps:

• Checking address in receiving email
• Checking address on link after clicking on confirmation link in email.

They have to do double-checking by requirements of exchanges, and triple-checking in total. There is nothing can steal their money if they do triple-checking process.

[pooya87]

in case you didn't notice it is talking about  a flawed altcoin which has nothing to do with bitcoin and the problem is with the lack of thought put into that altcoin.
the problem is that addresses don't have any kind of checksum or failsafe technique to help users avoid mistakes. in ethereum since addresses are encoded using base-16 or hexadecimal format, if you change 1 character to anything else the address is still valid and you can lose your money.

but in bitcoin addresses are encoded using special encodings that prevent such trivial and primitive mistakes. base58 and the newer and better bech32 are the encoding techniques. if you change 1 character or even more of them, the address will become invalid. so there is no way you could lose bitcoin by sending it to a wrong address unless you intentionally copy another address by mistake and there is no solution for that.

[Saint-loup]

Sure is expensive, but it's to be expected really. Manually recovering funds requires a certain good amount of time and manpower, and could risk certain aspects of their security, hence the fees. In the first place, I don't get how people are so careless with sending funds that are irreversible. It literally takes like 3-5 seconds to double check an address.

"It's not a bug, it's a feature"...   I see... If you want cryptos to be adopted by people, a good thing would be to begin to stop whining about the users IMO.

You will never get it back it's almost impossible too unless you know how to reverse the transactions.

Unless the transaction is still unconfirmed(hence could be recoverable through a doublespend) or if for example you sent a certain token to an exchange's ETH address(and not the token address), you can't.

What do you mean?  Why it would be different to send coins to the deposit addresses of other blockchains? It's the same issue, so exchanges charge the same fees IMO

[Juggy777]

Hello guys.
As one of new ones in the industry of crypto I have been spending most of my time to read various articles on the internet and I would like to share one with you as it could be very handy for many beginners. The article very clearly and shortly explains one of the common mistakes in blockchain transactions (depositing/transferring to a wrong address). Here is the link to the article.
 https://medium.com/grabityio/the-most-common-mistakes-deposit-to-a-wrong-address-fb7e71684fb8

@elyorman this information is always given to newbies who’re starting out in the bitcoin world, because in their excitement to do their transactions they often fail to check where they’re sending their coins. I have a habit of checking the address where I’m sending my coins at least 5 times to be sure it’s correct, also I would suggest you’ll to take few minutes out and verify if you have pasted the correct address or not. It’s pertinent to note that your address may change even when you have simply copied it, hence always make it a habit to verify where you’re sending your coins.

https://techcrunch.com/2018/07/03/new-malware-highjacks-your-windows-clipboard-to-change-crypto-addresses/

[nelson4lov]

~Snipped~

Sure is expensive, but it's to be expected really. Manually recovering funds requires a certain good amount of time and manpower, and could risk certain aspects of their security, hence the fees. In the first place, I don't get how people are so careless with sending funds that are irreversible. It literally takes like 3-5 seconds to double check an address.

I understand the reason for the high fees, but then it's too high. What if someone lost amounts below $5000? Say, $100, $200. It means Bittrex doesn't care and won't recover it. Also, I believe nobody is above mistakes. We've all made some mistakes at some point. It's so easy to make a depo addy mistake. Say you copy and paste but then, You unknowingly type another key while pasting. It'll be hard to spot any difference. Most people just check if the first and last characters of the address are correct. Now, What if the character was added to the middle? You see how easy it is. So I wouldn't blame noobs for making this mistake. Just that they should be more cautious