Coinbase Expands Asset Recovery Tool to BNB Smart Chain and Polygon
Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has announced a significant enhancement to its platform with the expansion of its asset recovery tool to include BNB Smart Chain and Polygon. This move aims to address the challenges faced by users who mistakenly send unsupported tokens to their Coinbase addresses on these chains, resulting in a loss of funds.
Historically, recovering assets sent to unsupported chains has been a complex process due to the lack of access to private keys needed for reversal. However, Coinbase’s upgraded ERC-20 self-service asset recovery tool now supports the retrieval of assets not only on Ethereum but also on BNB Smart Chain and Polygon. This multi-network support enables users to recover almost 3,000 unsupported ERC-20 tokens via BNB Smart Chain and 800 tokens via Polygon.
To initiate the recovery process, users simply need to provide the transaction ID and the inbound Coinbase address associated with the lost assets. With just a few clicks, users can recover eligible assets and transfer them to their Coinbase Wallet or any compatible self-custodial wallet. Importantly, Coinbase does not charge a recovery fee for assets valued under $100, making it an accessible option for smaller transactions. For assets exceeding $100, a modest 5% recovery fee is applied, along with a separate network fee.
Since its inception, Coinbase’s asset recovery tool has facilitated the retrieval of $160 million worth of lost digital assets from the Ethereum blockchain alone. The expansion of this tool to BNB Smart Chain and Polygon demonstrates Coinbase’s commitment to improving user experience and reducing points of friction in the crypto ecosystem.
While Coinbase continues to invest in enhancing its asset recovery capabilities, it’s important to note that not all tokens are eligible for recovery. Users are advised to conduct their own due diligence to assess the authenticity and security of both the assets and the underlying blockchain networks.
Coinbase’s asset recovery tool has been built in-house using proprietary technology, and it has already assisted over 10,000 users in recovering funds since its launch in December 2022. However, it’s worth mentioning that this feature is currently not available for Coinbase Prime or institutional customers.
In contrast to Coinbase, rival exchange Binance does not offer token recoveries as a standard service. However, Binance may assist customers in recovering incorrectly deposited unlisted tokens at its discretion, although recovery is not guaranteed.
