Coinbase now helps recover unsupported tokens mistakenly sent on BNB Smart Chain and Polygon

Crypto exchange Coinbase has expanded its asset recovery tool to BNB -0.99% Smart Chain and Polygon MATIC -2.51% after first launching it for Ethereum ETH -1.26% in December 2022. The tool helps users recover unsupported tokens mistakenly sent to their Coinbase address. 

"To help make on-chain recovery easier, we have upgraded our ERC-20 self-service asset recovery tool to support recovering assets not just on Ethereum, but also on BNB Smart Chain and Polygon," Coinbase said Tuesday. "This expansion will support the recovery of almost 3,000 unsupported tokens on BNB Smart Chain."

BNB Smart Chain is currently not supported by Coinbase, but some customers can mistakenly send unsupported tokens on the chain to their Coinbase address and lose their funds. With its recovery tool, Coinbase helps recover those tokens directly from inbound addresses to the Coinbase wallet or any other self-custodial wallet.

Coinbase, which already supports the Polygon chain, has expanded its asset recovery tool to allow customers to recover unsupported Polygon assets, Vignesh Muralidharan, a product manager at Coinbase, told The Block. He noted that Polygon support was introduced in December 2023, but the announcement of it coincides with the new addition of BNB Smart Chain integration.

Coinbase's asset recovery tool fees

Coinbase's asset recovery tool has been built in-house using proprietary technology. The exchange charges a 5% fee for recovering assets worth over $100, and a separate network fee applies to all recoveries. To recover their funds, customers need to provide two details — the transaction ID for the transaction where the asset was lost and the inbound Coinbase address where the asset was lost.

Muralidharan said the tool has helped over 10,000 users recover more than $160 million worth of funds since launching in December 2022. The recovery tool is currently not available for Coinbase Prime or institutional customers.

Coinbase rival Binance, the biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, does not offer token recoveries. Nonetheless, if a customer has suffered a "significant loss" due to incorrectly depositing unlisted tokens, Binance may assist them in recovering those tokens solely at its discretion, and the recovery isn't guaranteed, according to information on its website.

"Although these transactions make up a small fraction of total transfers, these errors have, understandably, led to customer frustration," Muralidharan said. "Our goal with this tool is to ease some of these frustrations and make onchain recovery easier to improve the customer experience."