Try Quests to earn cryptoWhen a transaction fails on the Ethereum network, a fee is still charged. This is because miners need to confirm transactions to the chain whether they succeed or fail.
On November 8, 2021, the ENS token airdropped. Addresses which registered a .ETH name before the snapshot date were eligible to claim the airdrop token. Unfortunately, some of the claims resulted in failed transactions.
Most failed transactions are either due to insufficient gas or rejection from the smart contract.
A transaction can fail when a user chooses a 'gas limit' that is insufficient to cover the transaction fee. The gas fee is deducted regardless.
There are other potential reasons for failed transactions, such as errors in the smart contract. In the case of the ENS airdrop, one likely explanation is users attempting to claim the airdrop multiple times (credits to TheLaughingMan#3062 for this explanation).
Over $1.1M was paid in fees for failed claims of the ENS airdrop.
From the first day of the ENS airdrop (November 8) to December 24, 2021, there were more than 105,000 attempts to claim the ENS airdrop. 89 percent of these claim attempts were successful.
Unfortunately, almost 11 percent of claim attempts resulted in failed transactions. More than $1.1M in fees were paid for these failed claim attempts.
Wallet services will usually suggest a gas price for transactions. Users are taking a risk when trying to save on fees by setting a low gas limit. The fee may be lost anyway in a failed transaction. It may be best to use the wallet's recommended gas price.
Additionally, users should be patient when claiming airdrops. There is no need to submit multiple claims in rapid succession. A single transaction is sufficient. The user should wait at least 20 minutes for the transaction to go through and appear in the wallet.
