Your swap is pending: what validator disagreement means

67%: on THORChain, this is the minimum share of active validators that must agree on an observed transaction for it to reach consensus. The figure measures the supermajority needed to move a transaction forward. Until enough validators agree, the swap’s next step may not happen.

“Pending” is a status, not a diagnosis. Your deposit may still be confirming on its source blockchain, validators may not yet have reached agreement about what they observed, or the swap may be waiting for its outgoing transaction. A thor swap guide gives a fuller explanation of how those steps fit together.

What does validator disagreement mean for your swap?

Validators independently watch activity on connected blockchains and report what they see to the protocol. If their reports do not yet match, or too few have submitted matching reports, the protocol can wait before treating the deposit or outgoing transaction as agreed.

That wait protects against acting on a transaction that could be reversed or misread. It does not, by itself, show that your funds are lost or that validators are behaving maliciously. Cross-chain swaps have several stages, and a delay on one chain can look much like a delay in validator consensus in the app.

How can you tell which step is still pending?

Start with the transaction ID for the deposit and check it in an explorer for the source chain. If it is unconfirmed there, the swap protocol cannot finish observing it yet. If it is confirmed, look for a corresponding inbound observation or status in the swap tracker or the interface you used.

Then check whether an outgoing transaction has been created. If it has, use its transaction ID to see whether it is broadcast and confirming on the destination chain. A visible outgoing transaction points to a destination-chain wait; no outgoing transaction may mean the protocol is still processing an earlier stage or has queued the swap.

Compare the app’s status with on-chain records where possible. Interfaces can lag behind the chain, so a stale spinner is not enough to conclude that the swap has failed.

What should you do while it is pending?

Keep the transaction IDs and note which chain each belongs to. Check the status again after a reasonable interval, especially if the source or destination chain is congested. Avoid sending the same deposit again: a second transaction is separate and could create another swap rather than speed up the first one.

• If the deposit is not confirmed, wait for the source chain to include it.
• If it is confirmed but not yet observed, give the protocol time to reach consensus.
• If an outbound exists, track that transaction on its destination chain.
• If the tracker shows a failure or refund, verify the refund transaction before trying again.

If the status remains stuck beyond the estimate shown by the interface, contact that interface’s support using its independently verified site or support channel. Share public transaction IDs and the status you see; never share your seed phrase or private key. A pending swap calls for checking its stage first, then acting on the evidence for that stage.