A destination tag is a number added to an XRP payment that tells the receiving service, such as an exchange, which customer to credit. Some wallets and exchanges call it a memo or tag. It matters when XRP is sent to an exchange account: without the right tag, the payment can reach the exchange but not your balance.
How does a destination tag work?
A destination tag tells the receiver of an XRP payment which customer it is for. Exchanges often collect XRP for many customers at one shared address and give each customer a tag. The ledger delivers the payment to that address, and the exchange reads the tag to credit the right account.
An address owner can make the ledger reject payments that arrive without a tag. Some wallets label the field “memo”. It is not the XRP Ledger’s separate Memos field for free-form notes. On other networks, such as Stellar, a memo does the same job as a tag.
What does sending XRP with a destination tag look like?
Say an exchange shows you its XRP deposit address, which starts with r, and the tag 58201937. You send 100 XRP to that address and paste the tag into the tag or memo field. The exchange matches the tag and credits your account. Without the tag, the XRP reaches the shared address, but the exchange cannot tell it is yours.
Why does a destination tag matter when you buy crypto?
Because the tag decides whose balance the XRP reaches at a shared address. If the XRP you buy goes to an exchange account, give both the address and its tag, copied exactly. A wallet address that only you control usually needs no tag. If a form has no tag field, use an address that needs none. See the XRP price and payment options.
What are the risks and red flags?
- Missing or wrong tag. The XRP can reach the exchange but not your balance, and blockchain transactions cannot be reversed.
- Typing errors. Paste the tag. One wrong digit can credit someone else.
- Not a secret. XRP Ledger transactions are public, so a tag is not a password.
- Tags from strangers. Take the address and tag only from the receiving service’s own website or app. Learn to spot phishing attacks.
Go deeper: what XRP is and how the XRP Ledger works.
