Today I got a little impatient and submitted a transaction on the chain, but it ended up stuck in the mempool queue… Basically, it's like a bunch of people squeezing into an elevator at the same time, your transaction is waiting at the door first, and miners/packagers will pick the “more willing to pay a tip” ones first. When congestion hits, I, being cheap and setting low fees, can only wait. The longer I wait, the more likely I get bumped off, or the price drops and the transaction fails directly. Burning a little gas still hurts.

In the past, I would get nervous whenever I saw large transfers on the chain or hot and cold wallets of exchanges move, immediately following various “smart money” analysis accounts, feeling like I could keep up with the rhythm. But after experiencing a stuck transaction myself these past couple of days, I’ve calmed down: maybe they’re just moving house, while I’m chasing buttons in congestion… The more I look, the more anxious I get. I’ve decided to unfollow a few accounts to reduce the noise, and first understand the queuing mechanism before drawing lines (though I often get it wrong too). That’s it for now.