Troubleshooting Arc: Stuck, Failed & Pending Transactions

Arc's sub-second deterministic finality changes what "troubleshooting" means: transactions almost never hang — they succeed or fail immediately, and most apparent problems are actually display issues, wrong-network mistakes, or reverts with a readable cause. This page works through the failures people actually hit, from most to least common, with the exact check for each.

Why is my balance showing as "ETH"?

The most-asked non-problem on Arc. Some wallets label any native EVM balance "ETH" out of habit; on Arc the native token is USDC, so the number is your real USDC balance and only the ticker is wrong. Nothing is lost and nothing needs fixing — the label is cosmetic (why Arc works this way). If the amount itself looks wrong by a factor of a trillion in some third-party tool, that's the related 18-decimals display bug: native Arc USDC has 18 decimals, not the 6 that ERC-20 USDC has elsewhere, and tools that assume 6 render nonsense numbers.

Why is my balance zero or missing?

Work down this list in order. Wrong network selected: check that your wallet is on Arc — mainnet or testnet as intended, since they're separate ledgers with separate balances (the differences). Wrong RPC entered: a mistyped or fake RPC shows empty or false state — re-add the network with parameters from the mainnet-live page or, for testnet, rpc.testnet.arc.io with chain ID 5042002 (full setup). Bridge still in flight: a CCTP transfer has a source-chain leg and an Arc leg; check the transfer's status in the bridge flow before assuming loss (bridge guide). And always settle the question on the explorer rather than the wallet: Arcscan shows your address's true balance and history — the wallet is a view; the chain is the fact (how to look yourself up).

Why did my transaction fail or revert?

On Arc a failed transaction fails fast and finally — with a reason. The usual causes, most common first. Insufficient gas headroom: gas is USDC, and if you tried to send your entire balance the fee had nothing to draw on — resend leaving a few cents behind (fees run around cents or below; testnet averaged ~$0.004). Slippage protection fired: on DEX trades, a revert means execution would have breached your tolerance — the guard working correctly, and usually a thin-pool signal, not a malfunction (how slippage works on Arc). Contract-level revert: the app's own rules refused the action (unmet requirements, expired approval, paused contract) — the revert reason on Arcscan usually names it. A revert that recurs on a token you're trying to sell is its own red flag worth taking seriously (honeypot checks).

Can a transaction actually get stuck on Arc?

Effectively no — and this is worth understanding rather than trusting. Malachite consensus gives Arc deterministic finality in roughly 780ms: a submitted transaction is included and final, or rejected, in about a second. There is no hours-long pending state, no fee-bumping ritual, no "speed up" button to hunt for. If your wallet shows a transaction as pending for minutes, the transaction isn't stuck — your wallet's connection is: refresh, or check the transaction hash on Arcscan, which shows the truth (it will already be final or nonexistent). If it's nonexistent, it never reached the network — check your RPC and resubmit.

What if I sent USDC on the wrong network?

The one genuinely painful failure, because it isn't an Arc failure — the transaction succeeded, on a chain you didn't mean. USDC exists on many networks; sending to an exchange's Ethereum deposit address over Arc (or vice versa) lands funds where the recipient may not be looking. If the destination is your own wallet, add the network you actually sent on and the funds are there. If it's an exchange or third party, contact their support with the transaction hash — recovery is their call, not the chain's. Prevention is the real fix: match the network to the recipient's expectation every time, and test with a small send first (the sending guide builds this into the flow).

FAQ

How long should an Arc transaction take? Under a second — Arc finalizes deterministically at ~780ms. Anything that looks slower is a wallet-display or RPC issue, not chain congestion; verify on Arcscan.

My wallet says pending but Arcscan shows nothing. What happened? The transaction never reached the network — usually a broken or wrong RPC. Fix the network entry with verified parameters and resubmit.

Why did my max-balance send fail? Gas comes from the same USDC you're sending. Leave a few cents of headroom and resend.

Can I cancel or replace an Arc transaction? There's no meaningful window — finality is sub-second. Cancellation rituals from slower chains don't apply; the transaction is already final or already rejected.

Who do I contact if none of this fixes it? For app-level issues, the app's own support (for Team Finance flows, Team Finance support with your transaction hash). For network-level questions, Circle's official channels — and never a "support agent" who DMs you first; that's a scam pattern (current ones).