Crypto swaps go wrong in a small number of predictable ways. Almost none of them are complicated, and almost all of them are avoidable with a thirty-second check before you press send. Here are the five that account for the overwhelming majority of support tickets, what actually happens in each case, and how refunds work.
Mistake 1: sending on the wrong network
This is the most expensive mistake in crypto and it has nothing to do with any particular service. A ticker is not an address book. USDT exists on TRON, Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana, Polygon and more, and each of those is a separate blockchain with separate addresses.
When you create an order you choose a specific asset and network, and the deposit address you receive belongs to that network only. Sending USDT BEP20 to an address that was issued for USDT TRC20 means your funds went to a different chain entirely, where the order cannot see them.
How to avoid it: read the network label next to the deposit address, not just the ticker, and check that your wallet is set to send on that same network. If your wallet lets you pick a chain in a dropdown, that dropdown is the thing to verify.
Mistake 2: forgetting the memo or tag
Some networks use a shared deposit address plus an identifier that says which account the funds belong to. XRP calls it a destination tag, XLM, TON and EOS call it a memo. Different name, same job.
If your receiving asset uses one and you leave the field empty, the payout may reach the right address but not be credited to the right account at the destination. The same applies in reverse when a deposit address comes with a memo: sending without it means the receiving side cannot attribute your payment.
How to avoid it: if the order page shows a memo or tag field, treat it as required, not optional. Copy it exactly, with no extra spaces, and paste it into the memo field of your wallet rather than into the address field.
Mistake 3: paying after a fixed-rate quote has expired
A fixed rate is a locked price for a stated countdown. If your deposit arrives after the countdown ends, the locked terms no longer apply. What happens next is set out in the handling rules displayed on your order page for that order. In practice a late deposit is usually either processed at the rate available when it lands, or returned to your refund address.
How to avoid it: have the paying wallet open, unlocked and funded with enough native coin for gas before you create the order. If you are sending from a slow network, or from a centralised exchange that may batch the withdrawal, choose a floating rate instead. There is no countdown to miss on a floating order.
Mistake 4: sending a different amount than the order says
The order specifies an exact deposit amount. Two habits break this. The first is using the send maximum button, which deducts the network fee from the amount rather than adding it on top, so the deposit arrives short. The second is rounding, which is fine for a floating order and not fine for a fixed one.
Underpaying and overpaying are both handled under the rules shown on the order page. Typically a short deposit is either processed for the amount actually received or refunded, and an overpayment is processed or the excess returned, depending on the handling rules displayed for that order.
How to avoid it: copy the amount with the copy button rather than typing it, and make sure your wallet shows that exact figure in the amount field with the network fee listed separately underneath.
Mistake 5: an incorrect or incompatible receiving address
A payout goes where you told it to go. If the receiving address belongs to a different network, or to an exchange account that does not support deposits of that asset on that network, or simply has a character wrong from a partial paste, the funds may be unrecoverable once the payout confirms on-chain.
Be especially careful with two cases. Depositing directly to a centralised exchange account, where that exchange may not credit the network you are sending on. And clipboard hijacking malware, which silently swaps a copied address for an attacker address.
How to avoid it: paste the address, then compare the first four and last four characters against the source. Use the address book on your account so you are reusing an address you already verified rather than pasting a fresh one each time. Before a large swap, consider sending a small test amount first if the route minimum allows it.
How refunds work
Every order can carry a refund address, and this is the field people skip. If a deposit cannot be processed as ordered, the refund goes to that address. Providing it at order creation is what makes a fast resolution possible, because the alternative is a support conversation about where funds should go, and that conversation cannot be short.
The specific handling rules for late deposits, short deposits and refunds are shown on the order page for the order in question. They are worth reading once, before anything goes wrong, so that you already know the answer if it does.
The thirty-second check before you press send
- The network on the deposit address matches the network your wallet is sending on.
- The memo or tag is filled in, if one is shown.
- The amount matches the order exactly, with gas paid on top.
- A fixed-rate countdown still has comfortable time left.
- The receiving address was checked at both ends, and a refund address is on file.
If something has already gone wrong, do not send a second deposit. Open the order page, copy the order reference and the deposit transaction hash, and send both to support@moin.cash.