In this article we will discuss why your crypto transaction is labelled as PENDING.
When a user receives an incoming transaction it will typically show up in their account within a minute of when it was sent. It will be labelled as PENDING until at least one network confirms the transaction. The fee used by the sender and the overall network traffic will dictate the time it takes for the transaction to be complete.
The pending tag is removed one the transaction is verified. This is confirmation that the funds have been sent.
(Insert GIF or Image showing "PENDING")
We see this same process in our traditional banking system. It is similar to when banks place a hold on a check waiting for it to clear. The main difference is with crypto it happens at much faster speeds; seconds and minutes in comparison to days for the banks.
When a transaction remains pending for several days, it could mean one of the below is a concern;
- Receiving a transaction with insufficient fees
All transactions require a miner fee to be confirmed by the asset network. If the sender did not use a sufficient fee, your deposit may never confirm. - Spending unconfirmed assets
If you are trying to send assets that appear as pending in your account your transaction will also remain in a pending state until your deposits are confirmed. You can think of this as a waterfall effect. Until the funds you receive are properly confirmed all of your sent funds will be marked with this same pending state. - The network is experiencing a high volume
Sometimes there is a high volume of digital currency being sent globally, and there are more transactions than there is space available in each new block to include the transaction.
If a transaction in your account has been pending for more than a few days you can manually remove this transaction. If a transaction is not confirmed it will be returned to the sender.