Stuck transactions and nonces: how to unblock a wallet
A single underpriced transaction can freeze every transaction behind it. Understanding the nonce turns a frightening situation into a two-minute fix.
Reviewed by Lauren Bennett, Senior Bitcoin Analyst · Last reviewed October 9, 2026
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On account-based chains every transaction from an address carries a nonce: a counter that must increase by exactly one each time. The network processes them strictly in order, so if transaction number five is stuck waiting for a higher fee, transactions six and seven cannot execute even if they pay generously. Unblocking the queue means replacing the stuck transaction, not sending a new one.
What is a nonce and why does it exist?
The nonce prevents replay: without it, a signed transfer could be rebroadcast repeatedly and executed each time. Numbering them and requiring strict sequence means each transaction can execute exactly once, in a defined order.
The side effect is the blocking behaviour. The network will not execute nonce six before nonce five, so a low-fee transaction at nonce five holds up everything behind it until it confirms, is replaced, or is dropped.
How do you tell what is actually wrong?
- Look up the transaction hash on an explorer. Pending means it is waiting; failed means it already executed and reverted.
- Compare its fee against what is currently being included — the gap tells you how far behind it is.
- Check whether you have several pending transactions and find the lowest nonce among them; that is the blockage.
- Confirm the nonce your wallet thinks is next against the network's view of your account.
How do you unstick it?
| Action | What it does | Use when |
|---|---|---|
| Speed up | Resends the same transaction at the same nonce with a higher fee | You still want the transaction to happen |
| Cancel | Sends a zero-value transfer to yourself at the same nonce | You no longer want it, or it was a mistake |
| Wait | Nothing; it confirms or is eventually dropped | The fee gap is small and nothing is urgent |
Most wallets expose speed-up and cancel buttons that do exactly this. If yours does not, enable custom nonce entry in the advanced settings and construct the replacement manually — the requirement is simply that the nonce matches and the fee is meaningfully higher, since producers ignore replacements that barely improve on the original.
What if the wallet shows a nonce gap?
A gap appears when a transaction was signed and counted locally but never reached the network, or was dropped from mempools. Your wallet believes the next nonce is eight while the chain has only seen up to six, so everything you send sits unexecutable waiting for seven.
The fix is to send a transaction with the missing nonce explicitly — usually a zero-value transfer to yourself — which fills the gap and lets the queue drain. Some wallets offer a 'reset account' or 'clear activity' function that resynchronises their view with the chain, which is safe because it only clears local state.
How do you avoid the situation?
- Check current network conditions before sending, rather than accepting a stale fee estimate.
- Avoid queuing several transactions during a fee spike; send one and wait for it.
- On chains with a fee-market design, leave a sensible priority fee rather than the minimum.
- Keep enough native coin for the fee — running the balance to zero makes replacement impossible.
- If it happens on a layer 2, remember bridging back has its own timing, covered in our guide to layer 1 versus layer 2.
Understanding the queue these transactions sit in makes the whole picture clearer — see our guide to the mempool and, for the fee mechanics themselves, how gas fees work.
What is different on Bitcoin and other UTXO chains?
Bitcoin has no per-account nonce because it does not have accounts in the same sense. A transaction spends specific unspent outputs, and ordering is enforced by which outputs each transaction consumes. A stuck transaction therefore blocks anything that tries to spend the same outputs — including, usually, its own change.
- Replace-by-fee: rebroadcast the same transaction with a higher fee, if it was flagged as replaceable when first sent.
- Child-pays-for-parent: spend the stuck transaction's change output with a high fee, giving producers an incentive to include both.
- Waiting: mempools eventually drop low-fee transactions, after which the inputs are spendable again.
- Not an option: sending the same payment again from a different wallet, which risks paying twice if both confirm.
The lesson transfers across models. Do not send a replacement payment while the original is pending; use the chain's own replacement mechanism, whichever one applies.
- 1. Transactions and nonces — developer documentation — ethereum.org
- 2. Gas and fees — ethereum.org
- 3. EIP-1559: Fee market change — Ethereum Improvement Proposals
Frequently asked
What is a nonce in a crypto transaction?
A per-account counter that must increase by one with each transaction. It prevents replay and forces the network to process your transactions in strict order.
Why are my other transactions stuck behind one pending transaction?
Because nonces execute in sequence. Until the lowest pending nonce confirms or is replaced, every higher-numbered transaction from that address has to wait.
How do I cancel a pending transaction?
Send a replacement at the same nonce with a higher fee — typically a zero-value transfer to your own address. Most wallets automate this with a cancel button.
Will I pay twice if I resend a payment?
You can, if both eventually confirm. Never resend as a new transaction; always replace the original at the same nonce.
Do Bitcoin transactions have nonces?
No. Bitcoin uses an unspent-output model, so ordering works differently. The equivalent fix there is replace-by-fee or spending the change output at a higher fee.
Mason Walker is an Ethereum & Layer-2 Editor at Crypto Almanac Daily, where he covers the rapidly evolving Ethereum ecosystem with a focus on staking, Layer-2 networks, rollups, protocol upgrades, and smart contract infrastructure. His reporting explores how Ethereum's technical innovations shape decentralized finance, tokenization, and Web3 applications. Mason specializes in breaking down complex protocol changes, network scalability solutions, validator economics, and the growing adoption of optimistic and zero-knowledge rollups into accessible, research-driven analysis. Before joining Crypto Almanac Daily, Mason covered blockchain infrastructure and emerging financial technologies, developing expertise in Ethereum's architecture and the broader smart contract ecosystem. His work combines technical accuracy with clear explanations, helping readers understand both the engineering behind blockchain networks and their real-world market implications. At Crypto Almanac Daily, Mason writes daily news, protocol deep dives, ecosystem updates, educational guides, and long-form research articles, providing readers with reliable insights into Ethereum's ongoing development and its role in the future of decentralized finance and digital assets.
This guide is educational and general in nature. It is not financial, investment, legal or tax advice, and it does not account for your circumstances. Crypto assets are volatile and you can lose the money you put in. See our editorial policy and methodology.
