By George Ward
Whenever a transaction occurs on the Ethereum blockchain, an external account owner triggers it rather than a contract. If User A transfers 1 Ether to User B, the blockchain’s state is altered as one account is debited and the other is credited.
The alteration occurs exclusively within the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) confines. For an Ethereum transaction to be validated, it must be available to the whole network, and any node can propagate a request to execute the transaction on the EVM.
Upon receipt of the request, a validator can execute the transaction and share the resulting state change with the entire network. Transaction fees cumulate during the validation process, and each transaction must be added to a verified block.
The Ethereum network features several categories of transactions. Some include regular transactions, contract execution, and contract-deployment transactions.
Guidelines For Checking An Ethereum Transaction Status
- Choose an Ethereum blockchain explorer: Various options exist, including explorers exclusive to Ethereum, such as Ethplorer, Etherscan, and EthVM, as well as those that support multiple blockchain networks, such as Tokenview and Blockchain.com.
- Input the transaction hash into the blockchain explorer: For instance, on Etherscan, the search bar can be found at the top left-hand corner of the screen, alongside a dropdown menu labeled “All Filters.”
Depending on the explorer being used, a user can search for various information using various criteria, including wallet addresses, transaction hashes (thes), blocks, tokens, or domain names. A ‘thes’ represents a distinct identifier assigned to an individual transaction.
Whenever a transaction is executed on-chain or involving external addresses, it is given a distinct txid that can be located in the transaction particulars. Depending on the platform, “hash” or “txn hash” may also refer to the txid.
Typically, it appears as a seemingly random sequence of letters and digits. In the case of MetaMask, the txid can be accessed by clicking the “Activity” tab and selecting the relevant transaction.
- Get information regarding the success of an ETH transaction: Information regarding the status of a transaction will be visible on the blockchain explorer. If the transaction has been validated and added to the blockchain, the explorer will display “success” or “successful” to indicate a positive outcome.
The assumption is that the transaction was successfully processed if no errors show. The ETH funds should appear in the designated wallet or exchange account within 24 hours of the transaction being sent.
The Processing Time For An ETH Transaction
The duration required to process an average Ethereum transaction often ranges from 15 seconds to five minutes because various factors influence this processing time. These factors include the fee paid for transaction processing and the current network traffic volume during processing.
Following the Merge, Ethereum migrated from a proof-of-work to a proof-of-stake blockchain system. Despite this transition, transaction processing times have remained the same.
Per the Ethereum Foundation, there is a widespread misconception that the Merge substantially improved transaction processing speeds. Meanwhile, there is only a minor distinction in the frequency of slots following the Merge, with each slot occurring precisely every 12 seconds, in contrast to every 13.3 seconds before the Merge.
Nevertheless, most users would not notice this slight difference since transaction processing depends primarily on network congestion and transaction costs.
Should ETH Traders Check Their Transaction Status?
When utilizing the Ethereum network for transferring funds or deploying smart contracts, users are required to pay gas fees. The amount of these fees typically corresponds to the number of network participants seeking to process transactions simultaneously.
Verifying the status of a transaction enables a trader to monitor their network usage expenses. Additionally, it can assist users in determining if the gas fee they submitted is adequate to verify their transaction.
Transactions with low gas fees may experience reductions in speed or may even be deferred, causing them to remain pending for an extended period, particularly during high network traffic congestion.