Day 5 – Lost in the Wrong Chain

Why Sending Money Using the Wrong Chain is Stupid as Hell

Okay… Day 5 wasn’t supposed to be about this. But here I am, writing with a heavy heart because I just made a $40 mistake.

I tried to top up $40 USDC, but instead of using the right chain, I sent it via BASE network, which the platform doesn’t support. A few hours later, I got the dreaded message:

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to return or transfer funds, they are lost.”

Aray ko po!

At first, I felt angry at myself. $40 may not sound huge, but it stings when you know it was avoidable. And honestly, it feels stupid as hell. But the more I sat with it, the more I realized this is exactly why I started this journey, to learn crypto in real life, not just in theory. Mistakes included.

What I learned today:

• Always check the network/chain before sending.
• ERC-20 doesn’t automatically mean “Ethereum”, tokens exist across multiple chains.
• Once funds are gone, they’re really gone. There’s no undo button in crypto.

Why I’m sharing this:

Because a lot of beginners (like me) will likely make this same mistake if nobody talks about it. And if my lost $40 helps someone else pause and double-check their next transaction, then maybe it wasn’t a total waste.

So no, this wasn’t the Day 5 blog I had in mind. But this is my real journey — messy, frustrating, expensive sometimes and I’m showing up anyway.

Crypto doesn’t forgive mistakes, it magnifies them. One wrong click and you’re paying tuition for a lesson you’ll never forget.

See you tomorrow for Day 6!