Why did my swap get stuck on confirming and how long should I wait

07 September 2026

Your swap is stuck on "confirming" because the blockchain has not yet included the transaction in a block, or because the exchange service has not detected enough confirmations. Wait at least one hour before taking any action. Most legitimate confirmations occur within 10 - 30 minutes, but network congestion, low fee settings, or exchange-side delays can stretch that window.

The "confirming" status means the exchange has broadcast your transaction to the network but is waiting for a certain number of block confirmations before releasing the output. This is a standard safeguard against double-spending. The number of required confirmations varies by cryptocurrency and exchange policy. Bitcoin typically requires 3 - 6 confirmations; Ethereum and most ERC-20 tokens need 12 - 24; other chains may ask for 1 - 10.

Your transaction might stall for three reasons. First, you set a fee too low for current network conditions. Miners prioritize transactions with higher fees. If your fee was below the prevailing rate, your transaction sits in the mempool, unprocessed. Second, the network itself may be congested. During a mempool backlog, even reasonable fees can take hours. Third, the exchange might be slow to detect confirmations or experiencing its own technical issues.

How long should you wait? Start the clock when the exchange first showed "confirming." For Bitcoin or Litecoin, wait two hours before considering the swap stuck. For Ethereum or tokens, an hour is usually enough. For faster chains like Solana or BSC, 30 minutes is a reasonable threshold. If after those windows the status has not changed, the swap has likely failed.

Do not cancel or resubmit anything during the waiting period. Cancelling a pending transaction can cost you the fee without recovering the funds. Let the process play out. If the swap ultimately fails, the exchange should return your original deposit minus the network fee. That return can take anywhere from minutes to 24 hours, depending on the exchange's recovery process.

What if the status never changes and hours pass? Check the transaction ID on a block explorer. If the transaction is confirmed on-chain but the exchange still shows "confirming," the problem is on their side. Contact support with the transaction ID. If the transaction is unconfirmed and days old, it will eventually drop from the mempool, and your coins will reappear in your wallet. You can then attempt the swap again with a higher fee.

For a deeper explanation of what happens when a swap truly fails - which coins are gone forever and which can be recovered - read the hub page "What a failed swap leaves behind and how to recover it." That page covers the specific recovery mechanisms for partial fills, stuck deposits, and network fee losses.

The practical rule: be patient for one hour, then investigate. Most stuck swaps resolve themselves. The ones that do not leave behind recoverable funds, but only if you understand which part of the process failed.

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