Why did I receive less bitcoin than was sent?
Match your address to its actual receiving output. The difference may be a deducted fee or withdrawal charge, or you may be reading the wrong total.
Match your address to the actual receiving output
Open the transaction ID and find the output containing your complete receiving address. That output’s amount is what the transaction paid to your address. Do not use the total of all outputs: it can include the sender’s change and payments to other recipients. If your address appears more than once in the same transaction, check each matching output with the sender or service rather than guessing which one is yours.
Open payment searchRead transaction outputs and changeCheck whether the sender deducted the network fee
A wallet or service may deduct the network fee from the withdrawal amount instead of adding it on top. Compare the amount approved, the fee shown and the amount listed as sent or received on the sender’s receipt. In the transaction itself, the network fee is the difference between the input total and all output totals; the explorer cannot tell from that arithmetic alone whether the service deducted it from your payment.
How Bitcoin network fees workCheck withdrawal charges and batched withdrawals
A sending service may charge its own withdrawal fee or use an estimated network cost. It may also batch several customers’ withdrawals into one transaction. That transaction has one overall network fee and can contain outputs for several recipients. Do not compare your receipt with the transaction’s total outputs or treat the whole network fee as your personal charge. Check the sending service’s own fee breakdown and withdrawal receipt.
Why a withdrawal charge can differIf the output matches, check deposit crediting
If the receiving output matches the expected amount but your account balance does not, check the receiving service’s confirmation threshold, minimum deposit, supported network and official status page. A service may apply separate account-credit rules after the transaction confirms. If you control the wallet, check that it has synced and that you are viewing the intended account and network.
Check a confirmed but missing depositSend the right details to the right support team
Record the transaction ID, full receiving address, expected amount, actual receiving-output amount, approximate time, confirmation count, and the withdrawal receipt’s network and service charges. If the on-chain output is lower than expected, contact the sender or sending service. If the output matches but the receiving account credit is lower or missing, contact the receiving service. Share payment details privately through official support routes, and never provide recovery words or private keys.
References
- Bitcoin Developer Guide, “Transactions”.
- Coinbase Help, “Coinbase pricing and fees disclosures”.
- Bitcoin Developer Guide, “Payment Processing”.
- Coinbase Help, “Pending transactions”.
- Bitcoin.org, “Some things you need to know”.