[Discussion] escrow is doing more work than we give it credit for
escrow is doing more work than we give it credit for. Not a hot take, just something I have not seen said plainly here.
Confirmations are the count of blocks built on top of the one containing your transaction. Until there are some, the transaction is not settled in any meaningful sense.
The one mistake that cannot be undone, and why it keeps happening.
The same token symbol exists on multiple chains. The wallet interface shows you the symbol prominently and the network in small type. Sending on the wrong chain to an address that looks perfectly valid usually means the funds are unrecoverable by either party.
The protection is procedural rather than technical: confirm the network in writing with the recipient before sending, verify the address format matches that network, and send a small test first. None of that requires understanding the chain — it requires treating the network field as the most important thing on the screen, which the interface design does not encourage.
What is and is not the supplier’s fault, since this board generates unfair complaints.
Not theirs: the network fee, chain congestion, confirmation time, the rate moving between quote and send, and a payment sent on the wrong chain. Theirs: which networks they accept, how quickly they credit a confirmed payment, and whether the address they gave you was correct and communicated clearly.
Keeping those columns separate makes the reports here far more useful. A thread titled "supplier took my payment" that turns out to describe forty minutes of unconfirmed transaction helps nobody and follows people around for years.
I will update this if the picture changes rather than quietly leaving it up.
best — the order this archive was captured in
A test transaction costs one extra network fee and verifies the address, the network and the recipient’s crediting process before the main amount moves.
Nearly sent on the wrong network. The token symbol was identical and the address format was the only clue.
Small fix — that is the network fee, not a supplier charge. The distinction matters for the complaint you are making.
Yes — the same token symbol on two chains catches people constantly and it is unrecoverable.
Pasted rather than typed the address, then checked the first and last six characters. Habit now.
A token symbol identifies an asset, not a network. The same symbol commonly exists on several chains with incompatible address formats, and sending across that boundary is generally unrecoverable.