Memo and destination tag: when you need one, and what happens if you forget

01What a memo or destination tag is

On most blockchains, a platform gives every customer their own deposit address. On a few — XRP, Stellar, TON, the Cosmos family — creating addresses is costly or impractical, so an exchange uses one address for everybody and asks each customer to attach a short identifier to the transfer. That identifier is the memo.

The name changes with the network — destination tag on XRP, memo on Stellar and Cosmos, comment on TON, note on Algorand — but the role is identical: the address says which platform, the memo says which account on it.

Think of a building with one street address and hundreds of flats. The memo is the flat number. Without it, the parcel reaches the lobby and stays there.

02Do you need one? A ten-second test

1. Look at where the address came from If the deposit screen that gave you the address also shows a memo, tag, comment or note — you need it. Platforms that require one display it right next to the address, usually with a warning.
2. Is it a wallet you control? Then no. Your wallet has its own address; there is nobody else to confuse you with. Leave the memo field empty.
3. Not sure whether the platform needs it? Treat it as required. A memo sent to a wallet that ignores it does no harm; a missing one costs days.

Copy it exactly. A destination tag is a number — 104829573, not “my name”. One wrong digit credits someone else’s account, which is a harder problem than a missing tag.

03Which networks use a memo

Read from this desk’s catalogue — if an asset below is the one you are receiving into an exchange account, expect a memo field.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and every EVM chain, TRON, Solana, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Monero: no memo. If a site asks for one on those networks, something is off.

04How it works in a swap

A swap has two sides, and the memo can appear on either one.

On the payout — what you receive

When you pick an asset that supports it, a Memo / destination tag field appears under the address. Receiving into your own wallet: leave it empty. Receiving into an exchange account: paste the memo the exchange showed you, exactly. It travels with the payout and the exchange credits you automatically.

On the deposit — what you send

If you are sending XRP, XLM, TON or a Cosmos asset into a swap, the order page may show a memo next to the deposit address. It is how the desk matches your deposit to your order. Include it in the transfer — your wallet has a field for it on the send screen.

05Forgot the memo? What to do

First: the funds are not gone. They arrived at the platform’s address; the platform just does not know they are yours. Every exchange has a procedure for exactly this.

1. Do not resend A second transfer does not fix the first one.
2. Collect the evidence The transaction hash, the amount, the date and time, the address you sent to — and the memo you should have used.
3. Open a ticket with the receiving platform Search its help centre for “missing memo” or “missing tag”: many have a dedicated form. Some charge a fee; most take a few days.
4. If the missing memo was on a deposit to one of our orders write to support with the order ID and the transaction hash.

Ignore anyone who contacts you first. “Memo recovery agents” on social media are scammers. Only the platform that received the funds can attribute them, and it will never ask for your seed phrase to do so.

06Questions people ask