What it means
Nodes maintain a minimum acceptable fee for transactions they will hold in their pool. A transaction offering less is rejected outright rather than queued, so it never becomes pending and never appears on a block explorer.
This differs from a transaction that is simply slow: that one was accepted and is waiting. Yours was not accepted at all.
Why it happens
A manually set fee below current rates
Entering a gas price from memory, or from a chart you read earlier, is the usual cause. Rates move continuously.
A stale estimate
A quote prepared a while ago and submitted later can fall below the current floor, particularly during a sharp rise in demand.
A fee cap set too low
Setting a maximum fee below the current base fee means the transaction can never be included, and nodes will say so immediately.
How to fix it
- Let the wallet estimate the fee rather than entering one manually.
- If you must set it, check the current rate first and set a maximum fee above the current base fee, not at it.
- Retry. Because the transaction was never accepted, there is nothing to cancel and nothing has been charged.
How to avoid it
Treat fee settings as live values, not preferences you configure once. If you routinely lower fees to save money, expect either this error or a long wait — both are the same trade being made explicit.
Frequently asked
Was I charged for this?
No. The transaction was refused before entering the pool, so nothing executed and nothing was paid.
Is this the same as my transaction being stuck?
No, and the difference matters. A stuck transaction was accepted and is pending, so it can confirm later or be replaced. An underpriced one was never accepted, so there is nothing to replace — just send it again at a workable fee.
Why does the minimum change?
It tracks demand. When many people are transacting, the floor rises; when the network is quiet, it falls.
Sources & further reading
- Ethereum: gas and fees
Gas units, limits and the fee calculation.
- Ethereum: transactions
Transaction fields including nonce, gas limit and fee caps.
- MetaMask: user guide to error codes
Wallet-level explanations of the error strings surfaced to users.
- MetaMask: speed up or cancel a pending transaction
Replacing a pending transaction by reusing its nonce with a higher fee.
Sources checked on 18 September 2026. Network features and platform support can change; check the relevant provider before acting.
AI-assisted editorial content; no independent expert review is claimed. Error behaviour varies between wallets, networks and client versions. This is educational information, not investment advice. Read our editorial policy.