Once confirmed, a transaction shows as Completed, indicating it can't be reversed and the funds are available for withdrawal. Until then, transactions appear as Pending, for various reasons.
Common causes of pending transactions
Cause | Details |
|---|---|
Network sync loss or rejection | Coinbase’s systems communicate with the wider crypto network. When you make a transaction, we send it to the network for approval. Sometimes, our systems may briefly lose connection with the network. This can cause transactions to be delayed. Usually, this delay is under an hour and your transaction will go through as normal. In rare cases, the network may reject transactions, so they remain unapproved. |
Insufficient network confirmations | Transactions show as Pending until they receive the required number of network confirmations to be considered complete. |
Insufficient fees for small transactions | When you send an asset, the system prompts you to include a miner fee for transaction confirmation. If the fee is insufficient, your transaction may not get confirmed. |
Attempting to spend pending assets | If you're trying to spend assets that are still Pending in your account, your transaction won't complete until they confirm. |
High network volume | Delays can happen if the global transaction volume is high, resulting in more transactions than the available space in each new block. |
Double-spending the same assets | Transactions generated by Coinbase have backend systems that prevent double-spending, but it's possible that if two transactions try to spend the same assets, one of them will never be confirmed by the network. |
Lightning network | For transactions on the Lightning network, the sender has to complete the transaction. The generated invoice will remain pending in your transaction history for 72 hours or until the sender completes the transaction. |
Pending transactions sent to a phone number or email
Transactions sent to a phone number or email address that are still pending indicate the recipient hasn't accepted the funds yet. If not accepted by the recipient within 30 days, the funds will be returned to your account.
If the transaction is pending, you can cancel it from a web browser to have your funds returned to your account. Note: This action isn’t available on the mobile app.
Go to Coinbase.com.
Sign in, then select the asset with the pending transaction.
Select the pending transaction, then choose Cancel payment.
After cancellation, the funds will return to your balance.