USDT Networks: TRC20, ERC20 And BEP20, And Which One To Send
USDT is the most deposited asset in crypto gambling and the most commonly lost one, because it is not a coin with a network of its own. It is a token issued on top of several different networks, and a USDT balance on one of them cannot be sent to an address on another. The ticker is the same everywhere, which is exactly the problem.
One ticker, several different networks
Tether issues USDT on Tron, on Ethereum, on BNB Smart Chain, on Solana and on others besides. Your exchange shows a single USDT balance and hides the network behind a dropdown at withdrawal time. The tokens are only interchangeable by trading them, never by sending them from one chain to another.
TRC20 is USDT on Tron
TRC20 addresses begin with a capital T and are the cheapest common route, with fees paid in TRX rather than in USDT. Blocks come every few seconds. This is the network Cryptoflip credits, and its deposit page is labelled USDT (TRC20) rather than plain USDT for exactly this reason.
ERC20 is USDT on Ethereum
ERC20 addresses begin with 0x and the fee is paid in ETH. That fee floats with network demand and has no relation to how much you are sending, so a small deposit can lose a meaningful share of itself to gas. It is the oldest and most widely supported route, and the most expensive.
BEP20 is USDT on BNB Smart Chain
Cheap, quick, and fees paid in BNB. The catch is that a BEP20 address is also 42 characters starting 0x, character for character indistinguishable from an ERC20 address. Two different networks share one address format, which is why this is the pair that produces most wrong sends.
The mistake that cannot happen, and the one that can
Sending TRC20 USDT to an 0x address is not possible, because your wallet will reject an address it cannot parse. Sending BEP20 USDT to an ERC20-only address is entirely possible, confirms normally, and leaves the money on a chain the recipient is not watching. The format protects you in one direction only.
Read the deposit page, not the ticker
Any deposit page worth using names the network next to the address rather than just saying USDT. Match that label to the network dropdown in your wallet before you send anything. If a site shows you a bare USDT address with no network stated, that is a reason to be careful with it.
Send a small amount first
On a new site, or the first time you use a network, send a small test amount and wait for it to credit before sending the rest. The fee on TRC20 or BEP20 makes this cost close to nothing, and it converts an irreversible guess into a cheap check.
USDT is stable in value and unstable in routing. Decide the network before you touch the send button, match it to what the deposit page says rather than to the ticker, and test with a small amount the first time.