A quote describes a proposed exchange. Settlement changes balances under the rules of the executing contracts. Between the two, the user or another authorized participant must authorize and submit the required action, and the network must process it successfully.
Four events that interfaces can blur
| Event | What it establishes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Quote appears | An estimated or offered exchange | That balances have changed |
| Authorization is signed | Permission under specified terms | Successful settlement |
| Transaction is submitted | An execution request exists | Successful inclusion |
| Settlement succeeds | Execution has changed state | That the original estimate was exact |
Ethereum's transaction lifecycle separates broadcast and inclusion. Intent protocols add a different path: CoW's order flow places solver competition between the user's order and onchain settlement.
A quote can remain only a quote
Suppose an application estimates 250 B for 100 A. If you close the page without authorizing anything, the estimate does not reserve those tokens for you unless the service explicitly offers a reservation mechanism. Refreshing later can produce a different proposal.
A signed intent can also remain unfilled. It expresses permission to settle if its constraints are met; it is not itself proof that a matching execution exists or has occurred. A transaction hash similarly identifies a submission rather than proving success by its mere presence.
Use the correct record
When asking what you received, inspect the settled result. When asking what the application offered, retain the quote and its timestamp. When assessing authorization, inspect the signed terms. These are three different evidence sets.
This separation is especially useful when a front end displays an optimistic completion message before final network status arrives. The account state and successful settlement record determine whether the exchange happened. A quote screenshot is useful context, but it cannot substitute for that record.
Sources & verification (2)
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- Transactions | ethereum.org
Transaction fields, native value versus calldata, inclusion and finality.
https://ethereum.org/developers/docs/transactions/ - Flow of an order
Intent submission, auction, solver execution and settlement lifecycle.
https://docs.cow.fi/cow-protocol/concepts/how-it-works/flow-of-an-order