What Happens When I Mistakenly Transfer My Bitcoin To A Wrong Address?

[Tribalchief]

Bitcoin transactions take place almost every minute globally, indicating frequent transfers of funds between wallet addresses. With a large number of transactions daily, there's a significant chance that individuals may mistakenly send Bitcoin to the wrong address. This can result from missing or incorrectly inputting the wallet address, device keyboard malfunctions. This topic sparked a debate between myself and some friends.

My Opinion:
1. When Bitcoin is sent to the wrong address, the funds are typically deducted from the sender, and the transaction is approved.
2. There is a 1/100 chance that someone else might receive the funds.
3. Bitcoin addresses for individuals are not closely related; the address generation process is not done alphabetically or numerically.

These were my viewpoints during the argument. The other person held a different opinion:
1. There is a higher chance, such as 80/100, that someone else would receive the money.
2. Bitcoin addresses are usually generated in alphabetical and numerical patterns.

In conclusion, we couldn't reach an agreement on the entire argument. I'm seeking opinion from the general public on this forum. I'll screenshot all the replies and send them to the person in a week from today.

[owlest]

Bitcoin transactions take place almost every minute globally, indicating frequent transfers of funds between wallet addresses. With a large number of transactions daily, there's a significant chance that individuals may mistakenly send Bitcoin to the wrong address. This can result from missing or incorrectly inputting the wallet address, device keyboard malfunctions. This topic sparked a debate between myself and some friends.

My Opinion:
1. When Bitcoin is sent to the wrong address, the funds are typically deducted from the sender, and the transaction is approved.
2. There is a 1/100 chance that someone else might receive the funds.
3. Bitcoin addresses for individuals are not closely related; the address generation process is not done alphabetically or numerically.

These were my viewpoints during the argument. The other person held a different opinion:
1. There is a higher chance, such as 80/100, that someone else would receive the money.
2. Bitcoin addresses are usually generated in alphabetical and numerical patterns.

In conclusion, we couldn't reach an agreement on the entire argument. I'm seeking opinion from the general public on this forum. I'll screenshot all the replies and send them to the person in a week from today.

I remember that each block in the Bitcoin network is created every 10 minutes. The probability of sending coins to the wrong wallet is 1 in 1,000,000. By verifying the recipient's address, the likelihood of sending to the wrong address is significantly reduced. The same applies to security: using a separate device that is not susceptible to infection significantly reduces the risk of sending coins to the wrong wallet.

[Tribalchief]

I remember that each block in the Bitcoin network is created every 10 minutes. The probability of sending coins to the wrong wallet is 1 in 1,000,000. By verifying the recipient's address, the likelihood of sending to the wrong address is significantly reduced. The same applies to security: using a separate device that is not susceptible to infection significantly reduces the risk of sending coins to the wrong wallet.

I really appreciate your effort and explaination, but i think you are coming from an angle were the sender has verified the recipient's address.

Sometimes, we hear of clipboard malfunction: were copied items are sometimes altered. In such situation, would the transaction still be approved ?, Because i guess large number of f people making transfer lacks the patience going through the copied address due to it's length.

[DabsPoorVersion]

I remember that each block in the Bitcoin network is created every 10 minutes. The probability of sending coins to the wrong wallet is 1 in 1,000,000. By verifying the recipient's address, the likelihood of sending to the wrong address is significantly reduced. The same applies to security: using a separate device that is not susceptible to infection significantly reduces the risk of sending coins to the wrong wallet.

I really appreciate your effort and explaination, but i think you are coming from an angle were the sender has verified the recipient's address.

Sometimes, we hear of clipboard malfunction: were copied items are sometimes altered. In such situation, would the transaction still be approved ?, Because i guess large number of f people making transfer lacks the patience going through the copied address due to it's length.

What do you mean? Is it altered with a different address? If so, there is no malfunction in that kind of scenario. There might be a chance that the website you are pasting the address into has been altering the address. Or possibly your computer device has malware that was called crypto relacing address virus. The transaction will be approved and the funds will be sent to the hacker.

[tranthidung]

Sometimes, we hear of clipboard malfunction: were copied items are sometimes altered. In such situation, would the transaction still be approved ?, Because i guess large number of f people making transfer lacks the patience going through the copied address due to it's length.

Because you know some people don't have enough patience to check, double check Bitcoin address before broadcasting a Bitcoin transaction and signing it, I hope you don't belong to those careless people type.

Bitcoin transactions are irreversible, when you send it and it is confirmed, at least one confirmation, it's done, you lose your bitcoin forever. You only can get it back if the receiver returns it to you. That chance is very slim.

• Irreversible transactions

Spending like 30 seconds to check an address, 1 minute to check it two times, won't cost you anything than a little bit time. If you don't spend time, you will lose something bigger, your bitcoin.

In case you are a receiver, you will have to wait for at least 1 confirmation or even more, depends on value of the transaction, before you consider it is done, and release money to your trade partner.

• How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough?
• Bitcoin confirmation risk calculators
  
  • https://jlopp.github.io/bitcoin-confirmation-risk-calculator/
  • https://web.archive.org/web/20181231045818/https://people.xiph.org/~greg/attack_success.html

• 1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.
• 3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.
• 6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.
• 10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Well, I don't want to dable into the technicalities of this whole sending bitcoin to the wrong address and the possibilities of possibly getting those bitcoins back, because I am not too knowledgeable when it comes to the technical side of bitcoin.

One thing I've always believe is that, if one mistakenly sends bitcoin to the wrong address, whether someone somewhere got the funds or not, the fact remains that those bitcoins are lost, and the possibilities of getting it back is as good or bad as zero.
The only way the sender can get that money back is if the person that received it is a good Samaritan and decided to send the funds back to the same address it came is came from, though the chances of this happening is always very low due to the anonymity with cryptocurrencies, that is, transactions can't be traced to a particular person except on occasions some people make their bitcoin address public.

So, the best advice is, avoid making the mistake of sending bitcoin to a wrong address, whether someone receives it or not, a loss is always a loss.

[sampoerna]

there's a significant chance that individuals may mistakenly send Bitcoin to the wrong address. This can result from missing or incorrectly inputting the wallet address, device keyboard malfunctions. This topic sparked a debate between myself and some friends.

Actually, there is no need for a long debate regarding this matter. because no matter how many transactions occur, basically it is still each individual who will determine whether to transfer to the wrong address or not. If you look at it from several angles, it could be due to someone's negligence, carelessness or inaccuracy when sending Bitcoin to a certain address. or because you are in a rush so you can't do it again on the actual Bitcoin Wallet address you are going to. So this causes the wrong Bitcoin sending address to be sent.

It cannot be denied that several of these cases have occurred and most of them were due to inaccuracy in inputting the address and also not carrying out the crosscheck process first. So delivery errors often occur. even though if it's wrong like that then we can't take it back unless the recipient is happy or voluntarily returns the Bitcoin to our wallet. Indeed, that might happen, but on the one hand, it will be difficult to find honest people like that, especially in the online world. Especially if the recipient really doesn't know who we are.

[examplens]

You made the answers to the doubt that the OP has a little more complicated.

The chances of sending Bitcoin to the wrong address are quite small, where the error is a typo. Addresses are not determined randomly, but using hashing algorithms, and every wallet should indicate "Invalid address" if accidentally changing a few characters inside.

The most common mistakes are copy/paste wrong addresses, and that's a more complicated story. From simple carelessness to clipboard malware

[Gormicsta]

There are two things, the Bitcoin Blockchain has built-in checks to avoid and prevent users from sending Bitcoin to an invalid or a non-existent wallet address. So if you mistakenly send a Bitcoin to a wrong Bitcoin address, except the address belongs to another user( which the chances are very slim) then the transaction will fail and your would still be intact.

[pakhitheboss]

No one can send Bitcoin to an incorrect address, if you send Bitcoin to a correct address then before 4 confirmation you can delete the transaction but you will incur a fee. Electrum wallet gives that feature. If you input the correct but the Bitcoin went to someone else then there is a malware in your device. I personally verify the address that I want sent Bitcoin to on blockchair and do check the first three and the last three digits of the address twice.

[Gm Jutt]

Your opinion is mostly right. If Bitcoin is sent to the wrong address... the money is taken from the sender account and the transaction is approved. But it's not as simple as saying there is a 1 in 100 chance that someone else will get the money. It depends on different things, like how unique the recipient's address is and how likely it is for someone else to randomly create the same address.
If you make any mistakes in the address so the website you are using will indicate that your address is wrong because the addresses are unique. And if the transaction is approved so there is no way to get it back. So be careful while making a transaction.

[Gormicsta]

And if the transaction is approved so there is no way to get it back. So be careful while making a transaction.

Yes but some wallets makes it possible for you cancel a transaction before the confirmations are complete, meaning if on the process of waiting for the transaction to be confirmed, you eventually realize that you've sent the Bitcoin to a wrong wallet, you could still cancel the transaction, but it'd require a fee.

[owlest]

I remember that each block in the Bitcoin network is created every 10 minutes. The probability of sending coins to the wrong wallet is 1 in 1,000,000. By verifying the recipient's address, the likelihood of sending to the wrong address is significantly reduced. The same applies to security: using a separate device that is not susceptible to infection significantly reduces the risk of sending coins to the wrong wallet.

I really appreciate your effort and explaination, but i think you are coming from an angle were the sender has verified the recipient's address.

Sometimes, we hear of clipboard malfunction: were copied items are sometimes altered. In such situation, would the transaction still be approved ?, Because i guess large number of f people making transfer lacks the patience going through the copied address due to it's length.

The responsibility for sending funds to the wrong address lies with the user. Holding cryptocurrency on a device that is vulnerable to viruses, trojans, and other vulnerabilities is a mistake. It is recommended to use cold, multi-signature, hardware wallets for maximum security. Ultimately, human error is often the cause of these issues.

[examplens]

No one can send Bitcoin to an incorrect address, if you send Bitcoin to a correct address then before 4 confirmation you can delete the transaction but you will incur a fee.

I would like you to check this first before claiming such things. Have you tried stopping the transaction after the second or third confirmation?
Even if it were possible, it would not be of much use (except for fraudsters) because we only see such errors when it is already quite late.

[tranthidung]

No one can send Bitcoin to an incorrect address

Everyone can make that mistake if the sender is careless, no double check, triple check or a device is infected with malware.

if you send Bitcoin to a correct address then before 4 confirmation you can delete the transaction but you will incur a fee.

If it is deleteable, reversible even after 1 or 4 confirmations, why do you still use Bitcoin blockchain for money transfer?

It is not safe if a transaction can be reverted.

I would like you to check this first before claiming such things. Have you tried stopping the transaction after the second or third confirmation?
Even if it were possible, it would not be of much use (except for fraudsters) because we only see such errors when it is already quite late.

That is a shit post and I really don't understand why pakhitheboss made it.

He even did not read my post there. It is at the same page of his reply but he did not read.

• 1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.
• 3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.
• 6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.
• 10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.