How to send it
The five steps
Get the destination address
The recipient provides it, usually as text or a QR code. Copying beats typing, and reading beats trusting the clipboard.
Choose the network
For any asset existing on several chains, this is a separate decision from choosing the asset. USDT on TRON and USDT on Ethereum are the same token on incompatible rails.
Enter the amount
Some wallets show the network fee as a deduction, others add it on top. Check which, or the recipient gets less than expected.
Verify
Compare the first four and last four characters of the address against the source. This catches clipboard-hijacking malware, which is the reason the habit exists.
Sign and send
The wallet broadcasts the transaction and returns a transaction hash, which is your receipt.
What goes wrong
The two mistakes that cost money
Wrong network
An address beginning 0x is valid on Ethereum, BNB Chain, Polygon and several more. The wallet accepts it without complaint on any of them, and the funds land on whichever chain you selected. Recovery is possible when the recipient controls the private key and can add the network. When the recipient is an exchange that does not credit that chain, the funds are gone.
No native coin for the fee
A wallet holding tokens and none of the chain’s native coin cannot send anything. The balance is visible, it is yours, and it will not move until a small amount of the native coin arrives at the same address.
When it does not arrive
Open the transaction hash in a block explorer for the correct network. That single action tells you which of four things happened.
Still confirming
The fee was low relative to current demand, and it is waiting. On Bitcoin this can take hours, and confirmation thresholds explain the wait.
Sent to the wrong network
The explorer for the intended chain shows nothing while the explorer for another shows the transfer.
Amount short
Common when the fee came out of the sent amount rather than being added.
Never broadcast
No hash resolves anywhere, so the transaction never left.
Sending versus accepting payments
Worth separating, because the two are frequently confused.
Sending is a manual action between two parties. Accepting payments as a business is an automated flow: a payment gateway issues a fresh address per order, watches the network, confirms and credits the merchant without anyone comparing addresses by hand. The setup is described in the guide to accepting crypto payments.
At any volume above a handful of transfers a month, the manual route stops being workable, and the reason is reconciliation rather than the sending itself.