Memo / Destination Tag

A memo (also called a destination tag) is an extra piece of information — usually a short number — that some blockchain networks require alongside a wallet address to correctly route an incoming deposit.

Most blockchains give every account its own unique address, so a deposit only needs that one address to arrive at the right place. A handful of networks, including XRP and Stellar (XLM), work differently: many users can share a single underlying address, often at a custodial service or exchange, and the memo or tag is what distinguishes one user's deposit from another's within that shared address. Miss the memo, or get a digit wrong, and the funds can still leave your wallet successfully — they just won't be attributed to the right account on the receiving end, which can mean a support ticket and a delay, or in the worst case, permanently unrecoverable funds if the receiving service can't match the deposit.

This matters directly when swapping crypto: if you're sending an asset from a network that uses this shared-address model into an exchange or wallet, you need to copy both the address and the memo exactly, in the right fields, every time. It's a completely different failure mode from a bridge or gas issue — the transaction confirms fine on-chain, but the money effectively goes into a black box on the receiving side.

On Zest, when you select a network that requires this extra field, the interface flags it and adds a dedicated memo or tag input alongside the address — it's not optional or hidden in fine print. If a network needs it, you'll see the field and be prompted to fill it in before the order can proceed. Always double-check that you've copied the memo from the exact screen where it was generated for that specific order, since reusing an old memo or address from a previous swap can misdirect funds. For a broader walkthrough of getting network and address details right before you send, see the USDT network selection guide, which covers the related problem of picking the correct network for a multi-chain asset.

This concept sits alongside network confirmations as one of the two things worth verifying carefully before sending any deposit, and it's especially relevant if you're moving funds to or from a custodial service, where shared addresses are far more common than in a self-custody wallet. Scammers also exploit confusion around addresses and tags through tactics like address poisoning, so treat every deposit address and memo pair as something to copy fresh, not something to trust from memory or history.