Network facts
Sent crypto to the wrong network?
The mistake is common because the address looks right: an Ethereum-style address is the same string on Ethereum, Base, Polygon, BNB Chain and Lisk, so a wallet will happily send on any of them. Where the money ends up, and what can be done, depends on who controls the address on the network it travelled on.
Why it happens
EVM networks share one address format, so the same address exists on every one of them. The network a payment travels on is chosen by the sender’s wallet, not by the address — and if the wallet was set to a different network than the invoice named, the transfer completes on that other network. A different family cannot be hit this way: a Tron or Bitcoin address is simply invalid on an EVM network, and the wallet refuses it.
Where the money is
On the same address, on the other network. If that address is an Unheld invoice address, it was derived from the merchant’s own wallet, so the funds on the other network are the merchant’s too: the wallet that holds the key for the invoice network holds it for every EVM network. Nothing is burned and nothing is held by Unheld.
What Unheld does with it
Unheld watches its issued addresses on every EVM network it supports. A payment that arrives on a network with no live invoice for that address is recorded for review and is not credited to the invoice — the invoice asked for a different network, and crediting a transfer that may be in a different asset at a different price would be a guess. It is never dropped: the record names the transaction, the address, the asset and the amount. A payment in a coin the invoice did not ask for, on the right network, is treated the same way.
What to do
Payer: tell the merchant, with the transaction id and the network it went on. The invoice is still unpaid, so a second payment on the right network is what settles it; whether the first one is refunded or counted is the merchant’s call, because the funds are on the merchant’s address.
Merchant: the funds are on your address on that network; open the wallet you generated the address from, switch it to that network, and they are there. Unheld’s review queue shows the arrival with its transaction id so you can match it to the payer.
Questions about wrong-network payments
I sent USDT on the wrong network. Is it lost?
If you sent it to an EVM address on another EVM network, it is on that address on that network. Whoever holds the key for the address — for an Unheld invoice, the merchant — can reach it from a wallet switched to that network.
Will Unheld credit my invoice anyway?
No. The payment is recorded for review, never credited to an invoice that named a different network, and never dropped. Pay the invoice on the network it names and tell the merchant about the first transfer.
Can I recover USDT sent to the wrong network from an exchange?
That depends on the exchange: exchange deposit addresses are theirs, not yours. This page covers addresses issued by Unheld, which are derived from the merchant’s own wallet.