Every experienced trader has a story about coins stuck in transit for hours — usually during the exact volatility window they were trying to trade. Almost every stuck transfer is preventable with a 30-second check. Here's the checklist.
1. Withdrawal open on the source exchange?
Exchanges silently pause withdrawals per-coin, per-network — during wallet maintenance, chain congestion or contract migrations. The pause is often shown only deep inside the withdrawal form. A proper scanner surfaces open networks next to each opportunity — in DexAgent it's the Networks column.
2. Deposit open on the destination exchange?
The mirror check that beginners skip. A spread often exists precisely because deposits are paused on the expensive exchange — everyone sees the gap, nobody can deliver the coin. If deposits are closed, the spread is bait.
3. Same network on both sides — and the same contract
The coin must travel a network both exchanges support, and for tokens, the contract address must match (DexAgent shows CA for DEX opportunities). Sending a token over the «same-named» network with a different contract is the classic way to lose funds permanently.
4. Memo/tag coins deserve double care
TON, XRP, EOS, ATOM-family coins require a memo/destination tag. Forgetting it doesn't always lose funds, but recovering them means support tickets measured in weeks.
5. When in doubt — test transfer
On cheap networks (TRC-20, Solana, BSC) a test transfer costs cents. For any amount that matters to you, send a small probe first, confirm arrival, then send the rest. The two minutes almost never kill the spread; a stuck full transfer always does.
Quick signs of congestion
- Withdrawal fee suddenly raised by the exchange — mempool pressure.
- «Processing» hanging over ~10 minutes on a normally fast network.
- Explorer shows growing unconfirmed-transaction backlog.
Related: USDT arbitrage loop · P2P arbitrage. Educational content, not financial advice.