Crypto deposit status decision tree

Pending and credited are different stages

A deposit passes through three separate stages. The sending platform or wallet submits the transaction and it receives a transaction ID. The network then includes and confirms it. Finally the receiving service credits your account under its own rules. A delay at one stage tells you who can act; it does not tell you that the other stages have finished.

Status names are not standard. Kraken, for example, documents four deposit statuses: Processing while the transaction confirms, Credited when funds can be traded but not yet withdrawn, Complete when funds are available for trading and withdrawal, and On hold when support staff must check it manually. Kraken notes that not every asset uses the Credited step. Other services use different labels, so read the help page of the service you are using.

Read a fictional receipt

The receipt below is invented for illustration. It is not a real transaction, and the TxID is deliberately not a valid hash. Compare each line with the receiving service’s deposit page for the same asset.

A sender showing Completed and a receiver showing nothing is a common gap. It usually means the network or the receiving service has not finished, or that one of the route details did not match.

Confirmations take network time and service policy

Exchanges wait for a number of network confirmations before crediting a deposit. Kraken says it requires confirmations for security reasons and that it cannot affect how fast a blockchain confirms. Its Bitcoin example is three confirmations, about 45 minutes, with longer waits when blocks are slow. Each service publishes its own counts, and they can change.

If the explorer still shows the transaction waiting for confirmations, there is usually nothing to do but wait. If it shows enough confirmations and the receiver still shows Pending, check the receiving service’s status page for a delay, then compare the time elapsed with its published processing times before contacting support.

When the route itself was wrong

A deposit sent on a network or as a token the receiver does not support may never be credited. Coinbase states that it cannot recover funds sent or received on an incorrect network, and that it cannot reject deposits of unsupported crypto. Kraken documents a recovery process for some misrouted deposits and says recovery is not guaranteed.

Recovery can cost money. On the page checked for this tree, Kraken listed no fee for a deposit that was simply not credited, a network fee for a missing or incorrect tag or memo, 200 USD for unsupported tokens on supported networks and 500 USD for unlisted assets on unsupported networks. Kraken says these fees can change. Other services have their own policies or none.

Do not resend the same amount to fix a wrong-network deposit. Ignore anyone who contacts you offering to recover funds; use only the help centre reached by typing the service’s official address.

Memo, minimum and address problems

Some assets need an identifier in addition to the address. Kraken lists a destination tag for XRP and a memo for XLM (unless a muxed address is used), STX and EOS. A missing or wrong memo usually means only the receiving service can match the deposit to you; contact its support with the TxID.

Minimums apply to the amount that arrives. Kraken says a deposit below its minimum after network fees is marked Failed and the funds are permanently lost, and that a later deposit does not credit the earlier one. Check the minimum on the deposit page before sending, not afterwards.

Deposit addresses can change. Kraken says a valid transaction sent to an expired deposit address can still be credited minus a fee. If the explorer shows an address that is not yours at all, the receiving service cannot credit it.

Holds and verification checks

A hold is the receiving service’s own review, separate from the blockchain. Kraken lists reasons such as funding limits for a verification level and, for crypto, deposits to unverified accounts, which it no longer accepts. Its deposit guide says an account must be verified to deposit crypto.

Transfer rules can add a step. For clients in the EU and UK, Kraken says it may ask you to confirm ownership of a self-hosted wallet, prompts that verification for transfers above 1,000 EUR in value, and releases the deposit after verification. Requirements differ by country and service. Follow instructions shown inside your account, and treat any message asking for a recovery phrase as fraudulent.

What to send support, and what never to send

When a service needs to investigate, give it the facts it can check. Kraken asks for the TxID, the cryptocurrency and amount, the deposit address used, and the date and time of the transaction, plus screenshots if requested.

Never send a recovery phrase, private key, password or 2FA code. No genuine support team needs them. Sending crypto is generally irreversible, and this tree cannot reverse or recover a transfer.