[cjfd]

Well, it is also possible to send money to the wrong account number by bank transfer. In that case the banks also generally say that they cannot do anything about it.

[ceejayoz]

Wrong account is one of the three specific scenarios the National Automated Clearing House Association permits an ACH reversal for.

(The others are wrong amount and duplicate transactions.)

[atian]

Wire transfers are a better comparison to crypto transactions, and they are less forgiving.

[nabla9]

That's not correct. At least not in general and not in most developed countries. If it's international transfer, it's more complicated.

You should transfer to be stopped or reversed as fast as possible. If it can't be done, receiving bank can freeze the funds.

Sometimes the person who receives the money may be held liable if they just spend large sums of money that were transferred to their account.

[danpalmer]

But the point is that it's a blurred line that can be argued with banks or even in courts, rather than a hard line defined cryptographically.

Having money that is almost entirely usable "correctly", but that with enough effort can be changed slightly in some cases is often useful.

This is the harsh reality of "zero trust" cryptocurrencies, but I think it's often one that is overlooked by proponents.

[jtbayly]

Generally they just fix it for you, actually.

[DubiousPusher]

I don't think this is true. I think usually an obvious error like a large sum sent to an incorrect account is reversible. Though certain specific transactions such as wires are harder to recover than others such as intrabank transfers.

[atian]

Yes, which you go through a governance system (our legal system) to recover it. Crypto governance works similarly where it exists in varied forms (e.g. replace the contract or hard fork).

It’s not mature yet but the parallels exist and crypto’s will continue to develop.