Cryptocurrencies have unique properties that makes them behave differently than the traditional banking and payment apps we use on an everyday basis. Sometimes, you might be encountering an issue when trying to send a cryptocurrency transaction, and it can be difficult to understand what the issue is and how to fix it.
In this article, we will explain the possible reasons why your money is stuck in your crypto wallet and what you can do access your funds.
Possible causes for money getting stuck in a DeFi wallet
There are various reasons why your cryptocurrencies could be stuck in your DeFi wallet or your crypto wallet. The most likely reason has to do with fees – either you don’t have enough funds in the wallet to pay for transaction fees, or you don’t have the specific type of cryptocurrency that’s required for fee payments on the blockchain network you are trying to transact on.
Now, let’s take a closer look at each potential reason for why your money could be stuck in your crypto wallet.
The blockchain network is congested
During periods when many users are trying to transact on the same blockchain, the blockchain can take a longer period of time to process transactions. Usually, this results in higher transaction fees, as miners prioritize transactions with higher fees attached to them.
If you have sent a transaction with a relatively low transaction fee during a period of network congestion, your transaction might get temporarily stuck as an unconfirmed transaction. The good news is that your crypto isn’t lost – it will simply take longer than usual for the transaction to complete. The best course of action is to simply be patient.
If you’re using Bitcoin, we recommend you usa a Bitcoin wallet that supports RBF (replace by fee) or CPFP (child pays for parent).
The RBF feature allows users to replace an unconfirmed transaction with one that has a higher transaction fee, increasing the chances of it being selected by a miner and included in a block more quickly.
RBF is supported by popular Bitcoin wallets like Electrum and Blue Wallet. Ledger Live and Trezor Suite, the software wallets from the leading hardware wallet manufacturers, also offer RBF support.
When it comes to Ethereum, high-quality wallets such as MetaMask also give users the option to speed up or cancel a pending transaction.
If you feel like you’re spending too much on blockchain transaction fees, the solution could be to switch to a cryptocurrency that has lower transaction fees. If you want to learn more, check out our list of the cheapest cryptos to transfer.
You don’t have the necessary tokens to pay gas in your wallet
One of the reasons you might not be able to get funds out of your crypto wallet is that your wallet doesn’t have the tokens necessary to pay gas fees. For example, let’s say that you have some SHIB tokens in your Ethereum wallet but no ETH tokens (or only a very small amount of ETH tokens).
Unless you top up the wallet with some ETH, you won’t be able to move your tokens out of your wallet. This is because every transaction on the Ethereum blockchain network requires a fee to be paid with ETH.
The same applies for other blockchain networks. Here are a few examples of the most popular blockchain networks and the tokens they use for paying gas fees:
Ethereum: ETH
Solana: SOL
Toncoin: TON
Cardano: ADA
TRON: TRX
You have fallen victim to a scam
Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons why people have money stuck in a “DeFi wallet” is because they are not actually using a DeFi wallet but have instead fallen victim to a scam. In such scenarios, your money is not stuck, but it has already been stolen.
Unfortunately, there is a large number of scams targeting people who have heard of cryptocurrencies but don’t necessarily have a lot of knowledge on the topic.
Such scams often impersonate reputable companies or individuals and convince users to deposit their money with promises of fast and guaranteed returns using secret algorithms and investment strategies. Typically, they will use crypto jargon such as “DeFi” or “staking” to convince users that the platform is legitimate.
After you deposit money, the scammers will provide you with a fake wallet (usually through their website) which will show your wallet balance supposedly increasing. This is completely fake – your money isn’t actually being invested anywhere, and the scammers are simply increasing the number displayed on their website to make you think that the platform is generating profits.
When you want to withdraw your money from the wallet, the scammers will demand that you deposit additional money so that you can complete the withdrawal.
If you have found yourself in such a situation, you should cut your losses and never deposit any additional money into the “wallet”, as they will not allow you to withdraw your funds no matter how much money you send them. You should contact the authorities in your jurisdiction and notify them of the situation.
Unfortunately, the chances of actually getting your money back are slim, as cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible and cryptocurrencies can be sent across borders easily.
Make sure to stick to legitimate crypto and DeFi wallets
Legitimate cryptocurrency wallets are always free to use, don’t ask users to make any investments and don’t promise any profits to their users. The purpose of cryptocurrency wallets is simply to allow users to send and receive cryptocurrencies.
In some cases, legitimate cryptocurrency wallets also facilitate staking, which involves the user temporarily locking up their tokens to help secure the blockchain network and earn rewards in return.
In itself, staking is completely legitimate, but scammers will sometimes try to disguise fraudulent investment schemes as “staking”. In general, you should be careful when it comes to unsolicited offers to stake your crypto, especially if the advertised returns seem too good to be true.
You can use platforms such as Staking Rewards to check how much you can actually expect to earn when staking a particular cryptocurrency – if you’re using a wallet or platform that’s advertising much higher returns for staking the same cryptocurrency, you should be very suspicious.
If you’re a beginner in the cryptocurrency space, it’s best to stick to well established crypto wallets. Here are some examples of legitimate wallets for some of the most popular cryptocurrencies:
Bitcoin: Electrum
Ethereum: MetaMask
Solana: Phantom
XRP: Xaman
Multi-currency: Trust Wallet
To learn more about creating a cryptocurrency wallet and best security practices, make sure to check out our step-by-step guide on how to create a crypto wallet.
The bottom line
Stuck transactions are fairly common in the world of cryptocurrency, as network congestion can cause transaction fees to fluctuate significantly. Sometimes, you might also run out of the cryptocurrency that’s required to pay fees, which means you’ll have to top up your wallet.
Unfortunately, one of the reasons for “stuck” cryptocurrencies can also be the fact that the user has fallen victim to a scam and deposited their money into a fake wallet or fraudulent investment scheme.
One of the best ways to improve the security of your cryptocurrency holdings is to use a hardware cryptocurrency wallet. Take a look at our roundup of the best crypto hardware wallets to learn more.
