Coinbase, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, has launched a new tool to assist its customers in recovering over 4,000 unsupported ERC-20 tokens sent to its ledger.
Sometimes our customers mistakenly send unsupported tokens to their Coinbase address. When this happens, the result is that these funds don’t get registered on the Coinbase ledger.
Coinbase said in a Dec. 15 announcement.
According to Coinbase, users could recover their previously unrecoverable funds by providing “the Ethereum TXID for the transaction where the asset was lost and the contract address of the lost asset.” The exchange noted that certain ETC-20 tokens, including Wrapped Ether (wETH), TrueUSD (TUSD), and staked Ether (STETH), will be eligible for recovery.
Introducing Coinbase’s new ERC-20 self-service asset recovery tool. A safe, simple, and secure way for our customers to recover almost 4,000 unsupported ERC-20 tokens. pic.twitter.com/YsszqPJ7EH
— Coinbase (@coinbase) December 15, 2022
The exchange used patent-pending technology to send funds directly from users’ inbound addresses, bypassing the exchange’s centralised infrastructure. According to the blog, the tool can help users recover assets without exposing their private keys.
The feature will become available in the next few weeks for customers except those in Japan or users of Coinbase Prime. For amounts greater than $100, there will be a 5% recovery fee in addition to a separate network fee that will apply to all recoveries.
Currently, recovery is possible for only select ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum base layer. Coinbase also stated that not all ERC-20 tokens are eligible and that this could change at any time.
The term “ERC-20 token” refers to any cryptocurrency created using the Ethereum blockchain. Uniswap (UNI), aave (AAVE), 0x (ZRX), and chainlink are some of the most popular ERC-20 tokens (LINK).
Before the launch of the tool, customers who sent unsupported ERC-20 tokens to a Coinbase address received a notification that the funds were delivered, but they were not actually delivered to the receivers’ wallets. Users would lose the tokens and funds associated with them due to this.
Other major exchanges offer recovery for similar transactions on a case-by-case basis. On its support pages, Binance stated that it may assist users “solely at its discretion” and “does not offer a token/coin recovery service.” Similarly, Crypto.com advises users to contact its customer service department, adding that “fund retrieval may not be possible in some cases.”
