Gas Fee Spike During an NFT Game Mint: What to Do When a Transaction Stalls

05 October 2026

If your transaction stalls during an NFT game mint because gas fees spike, the only reliable fix is to replace the pending transaction with a new one that pays a higher gas price. You cannot cancel a transaction once it has been broadcast to the mempool, but you can override it by sending an identical transaction from the same wallet with a higher gas fee and the same nonce. If you do nothing, the transaction will eventually either confirm at the original gas price or drop after the network discards it, which can take hours or days depending on network congestion.

Why transactions stall during mints

A mint is a race. Hundreds or thousands of people send transactions to the same smart contract at the same time. Miners (or validators, depending on the chain) prioritize transactions that pay higher gas fees. If you set a gas price too low, your transaction sits in the mempool - the queue of unconfirmed transactions - while higher-paying ones jump ahead.

During a popular mint, gas prices can double or triple within seconds. A gas price that would have confirmed in two minutes at the start of the sale may take hours after the spike hits. The transaction is not lost; it is simply waiting.

What you should not do

• Do not send the same transaction again from the same wallet. That creates a second pending transaction with a different nonce. Both will sit in the mempool, and you will pay for both if they both confirm.
• Do not panic and import your crypto-games/">seed phrase into an unfamiliar tool. Scammers set up fake "gas canceller" sites during popular mints. The page template for this site already covers wallet seed phrase theft in crypto gaming; the same warning applies here.
• Do not rely on wallet "cancel" buttons unless you understand what they do. Most wallet interfaces that offer a cancel option are actually sending a replacement transaction with a gas price of zero, which may or may not work. The reliable method is manual.

How to Replace a Stalled Transaction

You need a wallet that lets you edit the nonce and gas price manually. MetaMask, Rabby, and most browser-based wallets support this. The process is the same across wallets.

Step 1: Find the Nonce of the Stalled Transaction

Open your wallet's activity or history tab. The stalled transaction will show as "Pending" or "Queued." Click on it to see the details. Look for the nonce number - usually a small integer like 42 or 103. Write it down.

Step 2: Create a New Transaction with the Same Nonce

Send a new transaction from the same wallet address. This transaction must use the exact same nonce as the stalled one. The content of the transaction can be anything - a simple transfer of ETH or the same mint function call - but it must come from the same wallet and use the same nonce.

• If you still want the mint to go through: Copy the exact contract interaction data from the stalled transaction (the "data" or "input" field) and paste it into the new transaction. Then raise the gas price.
• If you want to abandon the mint: Send a simple transfer of 0 ETH to yourself (your own wallet address) using the same nonce. This is often called a "cancel" transaction.

Step 3: Set a Higher Gas Price

Check current gas prices on a block explorer or gas tracker for the chain you are using. Set your new gas price high enough that it will be picked up in the next few blocks. How high? That depends on how badly you want the mint. During a spike, a gas price at the 90th percentile of recent blocks is usually enough. There is no guarantee - another spike could push it higher.

Step 4: Broadcast the Replacement

Send the new transaction. If the nonce matches the stalled transaction, the network will treat the new one as a replacement. Miners will see the higher gas fee and prefer it. Once the replacement confirms, the original transaction becomes invalid and drops.

What if the replacement also stalls?

You can repeat the process. Each replacement must have a higher gas price than the last. Some wallets let you speed up a pending transaction directly; this is the same mechanism, automated. If you keep raising the gas price and the network keeps spiking, you may end up paying more in fees than the NFT is worth. At that point, the rational choice is to let the transaction drop and try again later, or skip the mint entirely.

How long will the original transaction stay pending?

There is no fixed limit. On Ethereum, a transaction can remain in the mempool for days if gas prices stay high. Most wallets and nodes will drop a transaction after about 24 hours if it has not confirmed, but that is not a protocol rule. Some nodes keep transactions longer. If you do nothing, the transaction may confirm hours later when gas prices fall, at the original low gas price. That sounds good, but by then the mint may be sold out, and you will have paid the fee for nothing.

Preventative measures for future mints

• Check gas prices before the mint starts. Many block explorers show a live gas price chart. If the network is already congested, the mint will be worse.
• Set a gas price slightly above the current average. Do not use the wallet's "suggested" low or medium option during a high-demand event. Use "high" or set a custom price.
• Use a wallet that supports EIP-1559 transactions. On Ethereum and compatible chains, EIP-1559 transactions include a "max priority fee" that you can raise without changing the base fee. This gives you finer control over replacement.
• Consider the chain's typical fee pattern. Some chains, like Polygon or BNB Smart Chain, have lower base fees but can still spike during popular mints. The same replacement logic applies.

A stalled transaction during a mint is stressful, but it is a mechanical problem with a mechanical fix. Replace the transaction with a higher gas fee and the same nonce, or decide the price is not worth it and let it drop. Do not trust third-party tools that claim to cancel transactions for you.

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