A user’s question: I withdrew USDT from the XX exchange to my imToken wallet, but it hasn't shown up. I contacted the exchange's customer service, and they confirmed the transaction was successful, yet the funds are not visible in my wallet.
With many exchanges recently launching their own chains, you might notice an increase in the network options available when withdrawing. If you're not careful, this can cause the issue described above.
Taking Binance as an example for USDT withdrawals, you'll see multiple network options and corresponding withdrawal fees:
- BNB Smart Chain (BEP20): Fee 0 USDT
- Tron (TRC20): Fee 1 USDT
- Ethereum (ERC20): Fee 6 USDT
- Arbitrum One: Fee 0.28 USDT
- Polygon: Fee 0.05 USDT
Many users choose BNB Smart Chain (BEP20) for its low fees, but some mistakenly enter their imToken wallet’s ETH address when withdrawing. As a result, their funds don’t show up because they selected the wrong network.
How to fix it: You can easily find your tokens by switching to the correct wallet in imToken. Here’s how:
- If you withdrew from Binance using BEP20, switch to the Binance Smart Chain wallet in imToken.
- If you withdrew from OKEx using X Layer, switch to the X Layer wallet.
Once you switch to the corresponding wallet, you’ll see the tokens and can manage or transfer them.
If you want to transfer tokens back to your ETH wallet, please note:
- Tokens on different networks can’t be directly transferred. This means tokens in a BSC or X Layer wallet can’t be transferred to your ETH wallet directly.
- To move tokens back to your ETH wallet, you must first transfer them to an exchange (the same place where they came from). Alternatively, you can use a bridge DApp in imToken to move tokens from BSC/X Layer to ETH.
- Different chains have different native tokens to pay the transaction fees. For example, transferring on BSC requires BNB to pay fees.
| Withdrawal Networks | Fee Token |
| BEP20 / BNB Smart Chain | BNB |
| ERC20 / Ethereum | ETH |
| X Layer | OKB |
| TRC20 / TRON | TRX |
| ... | ... |
Common Questions
Why doesn’t imToken support direct transfers between chains?
It's not that imToken doesn’t support it, but rather that blockchain technology doesn’t currently allow direct transfers between different chains.
imToken is a decentralized wallet where you hold your own tokens. Exchanges, on the other hand, are centralized platforms that manage your tokens. So, if you’re transferring tokens from one chain to an ETH wallet, you need to first return them to an exchange or use a bridge DApp.
Learn more:
Why do tokens accidentally get sent to the wrong chain?
Most exchange-developed chains share the same design mechanisms and principles as Ethereum. As a result, every Ethereum address has a corresponding "clone address" on networks like BSC and X Layer. Even if you enter your imToken ETH address when withdrawing from an exchange, the exchange sends the tokens to the "clone address" on its own blockchain instead.
Using imToken, you can receive these tokens from exchange-developed chains, but they do not appear directly in the ETH wallet. You need to switch to the corresponding wallet to view and manage them.