Today, the blockchain got stuck again and I started doubting my life. My transaction felt like lining up in the mempool to buy bubble tea: take a number first, and then everyone behind is cutting in line (basically, other people are willing to pay higher tips). You think clicking confirm is the end of it, but actually it still has to be bounced around by nodes—then miners/validators pick whichever ones they find agreeable and package them; if you don’t pay enough, it just keeps hanging there. The longer you wait, the more anxious you get, and in the end, you might get pushed until it expires and is voided, wasting your emotions for nothing.

The community has still been arguing these past few days over whether extreme fee rates are set to reverse or just keep squeezing bubbles. I think this whole on-chain queueing thing is pretty similar: everyone is betting on whether the next block will be “my turn,” but more often, it’s just emotions pushing you to bid higher, and the more people crowd in, the worse the congestion gets. Anyway, I’m taking a “backup” mindset now: for the same situation, prepare two sets of plans. If it really gets stuck, withdraw first, change the time, and send again—don’t go head-on against the mempool; winning that way isn’t a real skill.