What do the various transaction statuses mean?

Updated October 21, 2026 16:19

You may at times wonder why a payment has not been finalized or be confused about the status of a given transaction. To keep things simple, each payment status falls under one of two main categories regardless of transaction (Tx) type: Completed or In Progress.

Beyond these overarching categories, the specific statuses vary by payment method / transaction type: Lightning & LNURL, On-chain, eCash, Stable Balance, or Multispend. Below is an overview of every possible payment status broken down by transaction type.

Lightning & LNURL

Category	Fedian	Status	Description
In Progress	Sender	Pending	Payment in flight but not yet finalized
Complete	Sender	Sent	Payment successfully made
Complete	Sender	Failed	Not paid; time-out, routing issue, etc.
Complete	Sender	Refunded	Payment failed; funds left & returned
In Progress	Receiver	Invoice Created	Invoice generated but not yet paid
Complete	Receiver	Received	Payment successfully received
Complete	Receiver	Expired	Invoice not paid within 24 hours

In short: as the sender, a Lightning or LNURL payment shows Pending while in flight, Sent when it succeeds, Failed if it is not paid (time-out, routing issue, etc.), or Refunded if it failed after the funds left and were returned. As the receiver, it shows Invoice Created until the invoice is paid, Received when the payment arrives, or Expired if the invoice is not paid within 24 hours.

On-chain

Category	Fedian	Status	Description
Complete	Sender	Sent	Tx published; funds left sending wallet
Complete	Sender	Failed	Not sent; tx dropped from mempool
In Progress	Receiver	Address Created	Funds not yet received to new address
In Progress	Receiver	Pending	Tx seen; awaiting 11 confirmations
Complete	Receiver	Received	Funds received; confirmed on chain
Complete	Receiver	Failed	Tx unsuccessful; federation error

In short: as the sender, an on-chain payment shows Sent once the transaction is published and the funds leave your wallet, or Failed if the transaction is dropped from the mempool. As the receiver, it shows Address Created until funds arrive, Pending once the transaction is seen and awaiting 11 confirmations, Received when confirmed on chain, or Failed on a federation error.

eCash

Category	Fedian	Status	Description
Complete	Sender	Sent	Payment sent; claim status unknown
Complete	Sender	Canceled	Payment manually stopped by sender
Complete	Sender	Refunded	Not claimed within 3.5 days; returned
In Progress	Receiver	Pending	Receipt not settled; connection issue
Complete	Receiver	Complete	Payment successfully received
Complete	Receiver	Failed	Unsuccessful; eCash already claimed

In short: as the sender, an eCash payment shows Sent once sent (claim status unknown), Canceled if you stop it manually, or Refunded if it is not claimed within 3.5 days and the funds return to you. As the receiver, it shows Pending if the receipt has not settled due to a connection issue, Complete when the payment is received, or Failed if the eCash was already claimed.

Stable Balance

Category	Fedian	Status	Description
In Progress	Depositor	Pending	Deposit initiated; takes up to 10 min
Complete	Depositor	Deposit	Transfer into Stable Balance complete
In Progress	Withdrawer	Pending	Withdrawal initiated; takes up to 10 min
Complete	Withdrawer	Withdrawal	Transfer out of Stable Balance complete

In short: a Stable Balance deposit shows Pending while it is processed (up to 10 minutes) and Deposit when the transfer in is complete. A withdrawal shows Pending while it is processed (up to 10 minutes) and Withdrawal when the transfer out is complete.

Multispend

Category	Fedian	Status	Description
Complete	Depositor	Deposit	Transfer into Multispend successful
In Progress	Withdrawer	Pending	Funds requested; waiting for approvals
Complete	Withdrawer	Withdrawal	Approval threshold met; funds received
Complete	Withdrawer	Failed	Threshold not met or insufficient funds

In short: a Multispend deposit shows Deposit once the transfer in succeeds. A withdrawal shows Pending while waiting for approvals, Withdrawal once the approval threshold is met and the funds are received, or Failed if the threshold is not met or funds are insufficient.