The third time I sent a transaction during peak hours, I set the Gas to the median, and it still stalled for forty minutes. I stared at the mempool explorer—my transfer went from pending to stuck, then got cut in line by someone behind me. It was pretty demoralizing.

In the end, when the network is congested, it’s basically an auction. Miners pick and choose—either you bump the fee, or you just wait it out. I’ve learned my lesson now: for anything that’s not urgent, I just toss in a low Gas and let it lie there. The chain won’t disappear—but when it’s urgent… I still have to pinch my nose and race the bots.

After last week’s oracle price went abnormal, the group chat fell into an unspoken agreement of “waiting for confirmations,” and nobody dared to move. After the cross-chain bridge incident, this caution was even more obvious—waiting a few extra blocks is better than regretting it.