If you’ve recently made a transaction using your Ledger hardware wallet and it hasn’t yet been confirmed, you might be wondering what’s going on.
I have personally had several mini heart attacks doing crypto transactions, thinking my money is gone. However, everything turned out to be alright and I am sure it’s the same for you!
In this article, I’ll explain why your transaction may not show as confirmed (yet) and how you can troubleshoot any potential issues.
Be Patient – Blockchain Transactions Can Take Time
One of the most common reasons why your transaction may not show as confirmed in Ledger Live is that it simply takes time for transactions to be processed on the blockchain.
Depending on the blockchain and crypto asset you are using, it can take from a few seconds up to an hour (or more) to get the block (that contains your transaction) added to the blockchain.
For example, with Bitcoin, it takes about 10 minutes on average for a new block to be added to the Bitcoin blockchain. Do keep in mind that this is the average! History shows that some blocks have been added instantly (0 seconds between two blocks) whereas in some rarer cases there have been several days between two sequential blocks.
Another thing to keep in mind is that even If the block containing your transactions is successfully added to the blockchain, then this does not mean the transaction gets a “confirmed” status right away.
For security reasons it is usually required that your transaction is included in two or more blocks until the transaction is considered as “confirmed”. The minimum number of confirmations required varies between different blockchains and crypto assets.
So, if your transaction is not confirmed right away, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is something wrong. You may just need to wait a bit longer for more block confirmations to occur.
How Does Ledger Live Get Transaction Status?
Ledger Live is a client application that communicates and extracts information from blockchains (via hardware nodes that are run by Ledger the company).
These nodes help Ledger Live read blockchain activity and keep track of transactions. When you use Ledger Live to send a transaction, it first broadcasts the transaction to the network and later queries the status of the transaction and displays it to you.
However, if the hardware nodes run by Ledger happen to experience any outages and/or performance issues, it can prevent Ledger Live from “seeing” incoming transactions and updating the status of current ones.
This means that your transaction may not be displayed in Ledger Live (or displayed with a wrong status), even if it has actually been successfully processed on the blockchain.
You Should Rely on Information from The Blockchain Explorer
Whether you are sending a transaction from an exchange or from the Ledger Live application, you usually have the option to view your transaction using a blockchain explorer (an online interface for searching a blockchain).
When in doubt (information seems wrong or not present at all), always trust the information that is given in a blockchain explorer.
Ledger Live simply queries and manages the same blockchain explorer data, and if a transaction is showing as confirmed on a blockchain explorer, then it is definitely confirmed on the blockchain (and if Ledger Live shows something different, it’s a synchronization issue).
For example, if you open your Portfolio in the Ledger Live application and scroll down to the “Latest operations” section, you can click on a specific transaction and then view it via blockchain explorer (see the image below).
Most (if not all) crypto exchanges also have the option to open a specific transaction via blockchain explorer. Use it, whenever there is any confusion about the state of a specific transaction you have made.
Ledger Live Transaction States (Explained)
The list of transactions in your Ledger Live portfolio shows the status of each transaction based on the number of block confirmations it has received. There are three possible statuses: Pending, Confirming, and Confirmed.
Pending
If a transaction has not yet received any block confirmations, it is considered Pending. Transactions that included higher network fees usually don’t stay pending for long. If a transaction included a lower network fee, it may take longer to be processed and remain pending for a longer period of time.
Confirming
Once a transaction has received its first block confirmation, its status changes to Confirming. This status remains until the required number of confirmations has been reached. You can track the progress of a transaction by opening the Operations details for that transaction in the list. You can also view the transaction on a blockchain explorer to see its current status.
Confirmed
When a transaction has received the required number of confirmations (depending on the specific blockchain), its status becomes Confirmed. All confirmed transactions are included in the balance of your accounts and portfolio.
Ledger Live Shows Transaction Is Not Confirmed (Troubleshooting Steps)
If you have sent a transaction and it is not showing as confirmed in Ledger Live, then here are some steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue:
- Be patient and wait until there are more block confirmations. As mentioned earlier, it can take some time for transactions to be processed on the blockchain. It is normal for transactions to take a few minutes or even an hour or more to be confirmed, depending on the blockchain and crypto asset you are transacting with.
- Press the “Synchronized” button in Ledger Live to manually initiate synchronizing. This will refresh the data and may help resolve any issues with the transaction status being displayed correctly.
- Check and compare the Ledger Live transaction status with blockchain explorer data. Sometimes Ledger Live is more “cautious” and requires more block confirmations in order for the transaction status to be confirmed.
- Adjust the transaction fee – If you set your transaction fee to low, it might take a significant time until miners add your transaction to a block. Miners tend to prioritize transactions with higher fees because it is more profitable for them. If you included a low transaction fee and there is currently high network congestion, you can try resending the transaction with a higher fee to see if that speeds up the confirmation process.
- Check the Ledger Live Status (https://status.ledger.com/) which shows the status of Ledger hardware nodes that are querying the blockchain. If there are issues with the nodes, it could be the reason the transaction is not shown as “confirmed”.
- Update Ledger Live following the official manual from Ledger. An outdated Ledger Live application can sometimes be the reason why transactions won’t appear (or show with a wrong status).
- Clear Ledger Live Cache – open the Settings Cogwheel in the top-right corner, then open the “Help” tab and select “Clear Cache.” This will clear any temporary data and may help to resolve the synchronization issue.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if your Ledger transaction is not confirmed, it may be due to a number of factors. The first key idea is to be patient and simply wait for enough block confirmations before considering troubleshooting.
If problems persist, make sure to compare the Ledger Live transaction status with the information provided via blockchain explorer (and always trust the latter). You can also try manually synchronizing Ledger Live, clearing the application cache, and making sure that the Ledger hardware nodes are currently operational.
And that’s a wrap for now! I hope the article was helpful for you and helped you understand, troubleshoot and solve the specific issue you were having.