Money stuck in a DeFi Wallet? Find the solution here | CoinCodex

Cryptocurrencies have unique properties that make them behave differently from the traditional banking and payment apps we use on a daily basis. Sometimes you may encounter a problem when you try to send a cryptocurrency transaction, and it can be difficult to understand what the problem 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 to access your funds.

Possible causes for money getting stuck in a DeFi exchange

There are several reasons why your cryptocurrencies can get 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 required for fee payments on the blockchain network you’re trying to trade .

Now let’s take a closer look at each potential reason why your money could be stuck in your crypto wallet.

The blockchain network is congested

During periods when many users attempt to transact on the same blockchain, the blockchain may take a longer period of time to process transactions. Usually this results in higher transaction costs as miners prioritize transactions with higher fees to them.

If you have sent a transaction with a relatively low transaction fee during a period of network congestion, your transaction may be temporarily stuck as an unconfirmed transaction. The good news is that your crypto is not lost – it will just take longer than usual for the transaction to complete. The best course of action is just to be patient.

If you use​​​​Bitcoin, we recommend that you use 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 chance of it being selected by a miner and being included in a block faster.

RBF is supported by popular Bitcoin wallets such as Electrum and Blue Wallet. Ledger Live and Trezor Suite, the software wallets of the leading hardware wallet manufacturers, also offer RBF support.

When it comes to Ethereum, high-end wallets like MetaMask also give users the option to expedite or cancel a pending transaction.

If you feel that you are spending too much on blockchain transaction fees, the solution may 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 do not have the necessary tokens to pay for gas in your wallet

One of the reasons you may not be able to get funds from your crypto wallet is that your wallet does not have the tokens needed to pay gas fees. For example, let’s say you have some SHIB tokens in your Ethereum wallet, but no ETH tokens (or only a very small number of ETH tokens).

Unless you top up the wallet with some ETH, you cannot 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 to other blockchain networks. Here are a few examples of the most popular blockchain networks and the tokens they use to pay gas fees:

You have fallen victim to a scam

Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons people have money stuck in a “DeFi wallet” is because they’re not actually using a DeFi wallet, but instead have 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 aimed at people who have heard of cryptocurrencies but do not necessarily have a lot of knowledge on the subject.

Such scams often impersonate reputable companies or individuals and convince users to deposit their money with promises of quick and guaranteed returns using secret algorithms and investment strategies. Typically, they will use crypto jargon like “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) that will show your wallet balance supposedly growing. This is completely fake – your money is not actually invested anywhere, and the scammers just increase the number displayed on their website to make you think that the platform is generating profit.

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 extra money in the “wallet”because they don’t allow you to withdraw your funds no matter how much money you send them. You should contact the authorities in your jurisdiction and inform them of the situation.

Unfortunately, the chances of getting your money back are slim because cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible and cryptocurrencies can easily be sent across borders.

Make sure you stick to legitimate Crypto and DeFi wallets

Legitimate cryptocurrency wallets are always free to use, ask no investments from users and promise no profit 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, where the user temporarily locks up their tokens to secure the blockchain network and earn rewards in return.

In and of itself, staking is perfectly 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 announced returns seem too good to be true.

You can use platforms like Staking Rewards to check how much you can expect to earn when staking a certain cryptocurrency – if you use a wallet or platform that advertises much higher returns for staking the same cryptocurrency, you should be very suspicious become

If you are a beginner in the cryptocurrency space, it is best to stick to well-established crypto wallets. Here are some examples of legitimate wallets for some of the most popular cryptocurrencies:

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 quite common in the world of cryptocurrency, as network congestion can cause transaction fees to fluctuate significantly. Sometimes you can also hold up the cryptocurrency needed to pay fees, which means you need to replenish your wallet.

Unfortunately, one of the reasons for “stuck” cryptocurrencies can also be the fact that the user has become a victim of a scam and deposited their money in 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. Check out our roundup of the best crypto hardware wallets to learn more.