Approval is pending: should I submit the swap anyway?

A pending approval has not yet established confirmed spending permission. Wait for its result or manage that pending transaction before assuming the next swap can use it.

Confirm which step is waiting

Open the approval hash and verify the token, spender, account and network. If the explorer shows success but the application remains on Approving, refresh its state. If the explorer still shows pending, refreshing the page does not grant the allowance.

Ordinary account transactions use a sequential nonce, documented in Ethereum’s transaction reference. A later transaction from that account cannot simply skip an unresolved earlier nonce. Other execution models can package operations differently; follow the actual wallet flow rather than assuming every system uses two independent transactions.

Keep the quote separate

The quote you reviewed before approving may expire while approval waits. Once the permission confirms, obtain a fresh quote and review its output again. Approval is not a price lock.

MetaMask supports speeding up or attempting cancellation while a transaction remains pending. Speeding up changes the inclusion bid; cancelling competes to use the same nonce. Neither option guarantees it wins the race.

Do not submit a string of identical approvals because the button is slow to update. Record existing hashes first. If approval ultimately fails, diagnose that failure separately from the swap. If you abandon the trade after approval succeeds, decide whether the remaining permission is still needed.