How to Retrieve a Crypto Deposit With a Wrong or Missing Tag/Memo

If you deposited XRP, XLM, ATOM or TON to an exchange and forgot the tag or memo — or typed the wrong one — the money is almost certainly still there. It reached the exchange's address; what failed is the final step, matching it to your account. Picture a large apartment block: the courier got to the right building, but the envelope has no apartment number, so it waits in the mailroom until someone claims it. Recovery is a support process, not a technical one.

What should you do first?

Do not resend anything, and do not hire a "recovery service". Open a ticket with the exchange that received the deposit, and have ready what they always ask for: the TxID, the coin and network, the amount, the exact date and time, the sending address, the deposit address you used, and the tag or memo that should have been attached. Screenshots from the sending wallet help. Binance, Kraken, KuCoin and OKX all publish a form for this exact case — search their help centre for "missing tag" rather than guessing at an email address.

How long does it take, and does it cost anything?

Expect days rather than minutes, because a person has to match the payment by hand. Several exchanges charge a recovery fee, sometimes flat and sometimes a percentage, and many set a minimum amount below which they will not look at all. That is worth checking before you spend a week chasing a small deposit.

When can it not be recovered?

If the coins went to another exchange's shared address with the wrong tag, both platforms have to cooperate, which slows everything down. If they went to an address on a different network entirely, or to a service that has since closed, there may be nothing left to claim. And no exchange ever needs your seed phrase to return a deposit — anyone who asks for it is stealing, not helping.

Before your next transfer, copy the address and the tag in the same moment and send a small test amount first. Our guide on what a memo or tag actually is explains which coins need one, and how to find a TxID gets you the number support will ask for first.