Why Is My Transaction Stuck on Pending?

Different networks need different numbers of confirmations before a deposit counts as final, it depends on how that specific blockchain works. Ethereum Classic, for example, needs about a dozen confirmations and Avalanche can settle in just one or two.

That's one of the main reasons why some swaps confirm in minutes and others take longer.

Why Your Transaction Is Stuck

Funds being stuck is one of the most frequently submitted tickets we get.

Most of the time, on ChangeNOW transactions take 2-5 minutes to complete. But in some rare cases, it takes a little longer. Of course, people get frustrated and anxious, and we can't blame them.

Source: ChangeNOW Community Chat

Here's another thing you should know: you are never alone.

When a transaction's status doesn’t change in 10 to 15 minutes, rest assured, someone on our technical team is already looking into it.

So, we asked our L1 support team manager to explain what actually happens during the "Confirming" stage, and what the possible reasons are for this process to take more time than expected.

There are many factors that can potentially hold up a transaction. Here’s what our agents see most often:

• Your deposit is still gathering confirmations. The most common reason by far. Nothing's wrong, the network just hasn't caught up.
• The transaction failed on the network before it reached us. Some networks are more prone to this than others. If your wallet or a blockchain explorer shows the transaction as failed, the funds likely never made it to ChangeNOW, so there's nothing yet for us to swap. If your explorer shows something different, like a successful transaction, let us know. We'll sort things out.
• The coin got temporarily disabled. Once in a while we have to pause an asset for compliance or technical reasons. If your swap was in progress when that happened, the transaction may fail as a result. In the majority of cases, we refund it automatically, but if you’re worried or things don’t work out after 20 minutes, don’t hesitate to reach out.
• The transaction is flagged for compliance check. Our systems screen transactions for security reasons. Most exchanges do that. It doesn't mean anything's wrong with your account or transaction, it just might take a little longer to clear.
• Something got stuck on our side. Sometimes it happens. And when it does, our team pushes the transaction through manually.

We want to make it very clear: none of this means your funds are lost.

There's a lot going on behind the scenes when your transaction gets stuck. L1 support agents look into it first. If the issue needs more digging, they loop in L2 agents and technical engineers, sometimes finance or compliance specialists get involved, too. Everyone in that chain works to get your funds processed and delivered safely.

What looks like nothing happening on your screen is rarely nothing happening on ours.

What to Do While Your Transaction Is on “Confirming”

There's not much you need to do here, frankly speaking. But before assuming something's wrong, here’s a few small things that can help you stress less about it, and keep your transaction on track.

• Check your transaction on the Status Page using your Transaction ID. It’s the fastest way to see exactly where things stand. Even faster than a blockchain explorer.
• Don't repeat the transaction. A second attempt doesn't speed things up. On the contrary, it just piles up another transaction.
• To double-check: look up your deposit on a blockchain explorer (like Etherscan for ETH or Solscan for Solana) using the transaction hash - you can find it in the wallet or app you sent the deposit from, right after the transaction goes through.
• Give it some time. Confirming can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the coin and network conditions. That's normal.
• Avoid touching the transaction from your wallet (canceling, replacing, or resending) unless you're confident in what that does. On some networks this can create more problems than it solves.

When It's Time to Contact ChangeNOW Support

TL;DR: You can reach out to us anytime, there's no wrong moment to ask. Our support team is always glad to help.

Waiting for a transaction to move is stressful. Especially, when the amount is large. We’ve all been there.

It can get even more frustrating if you're on a schedule: sending funds for a payment or you have a purchase that's waiting on the other end.

And if you're watching the screen and nothing's changing for a long time, that unease is completely understandable, and our team is here for you to resolve the problem as soon as possible.

That said, a few situations are especially worth flagging to us directly:

• It's been well past the usual window for that coin, and the explorer still shows zero or very few confirmations, with no sign of movement.
• The explorer shows your deposit as confirmed, but your ChangeNOW tracker still shows Confirming. That's a mismatch worth checking.
• You sent the deposit to the wrong network or a different coin than the one specified for the swap.
• You can't find the transaction on the explorer at all, even with the correct hash and network.

When you reach out, have your ChangeNOW Transaction ID and the network transaction hash ready. It's the fastest way for our team to look into it and get back to you.

Ways to Contact ChangeNOW Support

• Live chat: the chat widget on ChangeNOW website (bottom right corner). Tap "Where can I track my exchange's progress?" to jump straight to the Status Page.
• Telegram — @ChangeNOW_chat
• Email: Support ChangeNOW

Final Thoughts

Sending money off and losing sight of it can be very unsettling. Especially when you don’t understand what's happening to it and not sure whether you will ever see it again.

But here’s the important thing we want to emphasize: when you swap crypto through ChangeNOW, you're working with a service that's been in this market for almost 10 years.

We have a highly experienced support team that takes any transaction issues seriously and works through them daily. We all want your swaps to go as smoothly and issue-free as possible. Because good user experience is what brings people back.

And if your transaction does get stuck? That's alright. It happens. Reach out, and we'll help you sort it out.

Contact ChangeNOW support team

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