You clicked the "Speed Up" button and confirmed a new gas fee in your wallet, but the transaction is still stuck. The problem is likely that you did not increase the fee enough.
A leading global cryptocurrency platform,suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.
New user benefit: 20% off trading fees upon registration!！
Let's figure out exactly how much gas you need to add to replace a stuck transaction, and how to calculate it so you don't waste money.
First, understand one key point: Why would a node allow your new transaction to replace the old one?
Under EIP-1559 rules, the core factor for replacing a transaction is the Effective Priority Fee, not the Max Fee itself.
Effective Priority Fee = min(Priority Fee you set, Max Fee - current Base Fee)
The system only checks whether the new transaction's effective priority fee is higher than the old transaction's. If you only raise the Max Fee but leave the Priority Fee unchanged, the effective priority fee may not increase at all, and nodes will still ignore your new transaction.
Minimum Increase: At Least 10%
Max Priority Fee: At least 10% higher than the original transaction.
Max Fee: Recommended to be 30% higher than the original transaction. This is not a hard requirement, but setting it higher helps cover Base Fee fluctuations and avoids getting stuck again right after submission.
Step-by-Step Guide (MetaMask Example)
Open your wallet's "Activity" list and find the stuck transaction.
Click "Speed Up".
In the confirmation popup, switch to "Advanced" options.
Max Priority Fee: Increase it by more than 10% from the original value. For example, if it was 1.5 Gwei, set it to 1.7 or higher.
Max Fee: Increase it by more than 30% from the original value. For example, if it was 20 Gwei, set it to 26 or higher.
Confirm and submit.
| Parameter | Minimum Increase | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Max Priority Fee | ≥ 10% | Nodes compare this value. If it is not high enough, replacement is not allowed. |
| Max Fee | ≥ 30% | Leaves room for Base Fee fluctuations, preventing the new transaction from getting stuck again. |
High risk warning: Do not try to save money by only adding 5%. Some implementations require at least 5%, but in practice network congestion can worsen at any time. If you add too little, your replacement transaction will still be ignored. You will just pay an extra gas fee without solving the problem.
Common Reasons for Failure
Many users report that even after increasing the priority fee by 10%, the replacement still fails. Possible reasons:
The Base Fee jumped right when you submitted the replacement transaction. The 10% priority increase was swallowed by the Base Fee rise, so the effective priority fee did not increase enough. In this case, you need to speed up again and raise the priority fee further.
The wallet has not synced the latest state. Restart the wallet or switch networks and switch back, then re-estimate the gas fee before speeding up.
You changed the Gas Limit instead of the Fee. To speed up, you need to change the fee parameters (Max Priority Fee / Max Fee), not the Gas Limit. Changing the Gas Limit only gives more gas space; it does not solve the problem of a fee that is too low.
Verification
After the replacement transaction is confirmed, check the original transaction hash on a block explorer:
Status shows Dropped & Replaced → Replacement succeeded.
New transaction hash status shows Success → Final confirmation.
A leading global cryptocurrency platform,suitable for both beginners and experienced traders.
New user benefit: 20% off trading fees upon registration!！
FAQ
Q: If my wallet does not support the "Speed Up" button, how can I replace the transaction manually?
A: Enable the wallet's "Custom Nonce" feature. Send a transaction of 0 ETH to yourself, set the Nonce to the same number as the stuck transaction, and increase the fee according to the rules above. This essentially creates a manual replacement transaction.
Q: Are the replacement rules the same for Blob transactions (Type 3)?
A: No. Blob transactions are larger and cost more to propagate, so the rules are stricter—the fee increase requirement is usually higher (sometimes even 100%). Regular users rarely encounter this situation. It is recommended to use the wallet's Speed Up button directly.
