Last night, the network was congested again, and I was watching the mempool, feeling like my transaction was waiting in line: first pushed to the back, with a low gas fee it just stays "pending," and sometimes others with higher fees cut in line. Basically, miners/validators prioritize the more profitable ones. Waiting too long also has costs—price slippage, expiration, or even accidentally canceling and paying extra... Anyway, it’s quite nerve-wracking.

Recently, L2s have been arguing about TPS/fees/subsidies, and I’m a bit tired of it: everyone talks quickly, but when congestion hits, it still depends on whether your transaction can be included in a block. Now I mainly have two strategies: for non-urgent transactions, I’m willing to wait longer; for urgent ones, I just bump up the fee and set conservative parameters, so I don’t shoot myself in the foot. The on-chain world doesn’t owe you an “instant confirmation,” but don’t get tricked into rushing blindly. That’s how I see it for now.