Why is My Transaction Pending?

This article is about transactions sent to or from your Coinbase primary balance. Learn about pending purchases or bank deposits here.

Incoming transactions show up in your account almost instantly but show as Pending until there have been enough network confirmations. 

Once a transaction is confirmed, it will show Completed, indicating that the transaction can’t be reversed and the funds can be withdrawn.

Coinbase runs its own digital currency nodes that communicate with the rest of the network. When you initiate a transaction, we broadcast it to the rest of the network so it can be confirmed.

Our nodes may lose sync with the rest of the network for short periods of time, which can cause transactions to remain Pending longer than normal. Usually the delay is under an hour and the transaction will eventually go through normally.

Occasionally, transactions aren’t accepted by the rest of the network and therefore are never considered to be confirmed.

Common causes of unconfirmed transactions

Pending Phone Send Transactions

If you’ve initiated a send to a recipient’s phone number and the transaction is in a pending state, it means the recipient hasn’t accepted it yet.

You can cancel the payment to return the funds to your account by following the steps below. This process can only be completed via the web (not the mobile app).

1. Go to Coinbase.com using a web browser on your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone.
2. Log in to your account and select the asset of your pending transaction.
3. Locate and select the pending transaction to display the Cancel payment option.
4. Select Cancel payment.

Once the transaction is canceled, the funds will be available again in your balance.

If funds aren’t accepted by the recipient within 30 days of the send, they’ll be returned to your account. Get instant and effective solution to all your crypto needs here.