Today the on-chain network was congested again for a while. I watched the mempool for a bit before placing my order, and it felt like waiting in line to buy bubble tea: you think you've already paid, but you just have a number. During congestion, transactions are "waiting to be packaged" there first; if someone pays a higher fee or gets sniped by an MEV bot to jump the queue, you might move from the front to the back, or even get stuck and need to resend after timeout.

Recently, I also saw many people complaining that validators/miners are profiting too much from ordering, and retail investors seem to be arranged like seats... I can't change the rules either, so I can only take it as a signal: once the mempool starts piling up and similar transactions jump around, I default to the environment not being suitable for impulsive actions. I’d rather miss out than chase. Drink water before the market opens, don’t move faster than your brain.