When you swipe a card or send money through PayPal, it goes through instantly. But that’s not the case with Bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions use a decentralized network of miners who verify and add transactions to the blockchain. Sometimes, you only need to wait for a few moments. Other times, it could take hours. And in some (rare) instances, the transaction even gets stuck.
So, what’s the deal and why do some transactions go through smoothly while others drag on? There are a few factors that influence this, but the good news is that there are things you can do to speed things up.
How Bitcoin Transactions Work
When you start learning about Bitcoin, you should do your homework and find out how transactions work.
So, what is a Bitcoin transaction? It’s the process of sending Bitcoin from one wallet to another, but it’s not like your traditional money transfer. There are no banks or payment processors here.
Instead, when you transfer Bitcoin, there’s a decentralized system called the blockchain, which is a public ledger that records every transaction ever made. When you send Bitcoin, your wallet creates a transaction with the specifics of the amount and the address of the recipient. Then, to prove that it’s legitimate, the wallet signs the transaction with your private key. Once it’s been signed, the transaction is broadcasted to the Bitcoin’s network and once it’s there, it waits to be picked up by miners.
Miners have a big part in verifying transactions. They gather unconfirmed transactions, bundle them into blocks, and then they need to add them to the blockchain. For that to happen, miners have to solve a complicated mathematical puzzle, which is a process known as proof-of-work. Once the puzzle is solved, the block is confirmed and all transactions inside it become permanent.
At this point, your Bitcoin is sent and the recipient might already have access to the funds (this part depends on the amount of confirmations that are required).
What Affects Bitcoin Times?
The shortest answer is – it depends. There are several factors at play here.
One of the biggest ones is network congestion. Basically, if a lot of people are sending Bitcoin at the same time, the system gets overloaded and transactions take longer to process. Before they’re confirmed, transactions sit in a queue called the mempool and wait for miners to include them in a new block. If the queue is full, transactions with lower fees usually get stuck for a while. This is why fees are so important.
For miners, transactions with higher fees are a priority, so if you don’t pay enough, your transaction will take longer to go through.
Then there’s block time, that’s another factor. Bitcoin adds a new block roughly every 10 minutes, but that doesn’t mean your transaction will be included right away. The size of your transaction is also a factor because larger transactions take up more space, so that slows things down.
There are also some wallets and exchanges that require multiple confirmations for security reasons. In these cases, even if your transaction is added to the blockchain, there’s a chance you’ll need to wait for more blocks to be added before the funds are available.
Average Bitcoin Transaction Time – How Long Does It Take?
Anything between 10 minutes and an hour is the usual processing time, meaning there’s nothing to worry about. This, of course, doesn’t guarantee every single one of your transactions will take this amount of time. Sometimes, your transaction is included in the next block, other times it’s delayed.
Again, the fee matters so if you pay a higher fee, there’s far more chance you won’t need to wait for too long. But there are also unexpected slowdowns that happen because of network issues, software updates, or large-scale attacks that disrupt normal processing.
Most of the time, though, expect to wait up to an hour. But if your transaction doesn’t get confirmed at all, it will eventually drop from the Bitcoin network and the funds will go back to your wallet. This process, however, usually takes days.
How to Speed Up BTC Transactions
Some delays can’t be avoided, but there are situations when you can speed Bitcoin transaction times up. Waiting for a Bitcoin transaction to confirm can get really annoying, so it’s good to know what to do to help it move along.
1.Adjust Fees
First-come, first-served doesn’t really work with Bitcoin. If you want your transaction to process faster, you’ll simply need to pay a higher fee. Miners prioritize transactions since they earn more from higher fees.
Fees are dynamic, meaning they go up and down based on how congested the network is. When the mempool is full and there’s high demand, fees go up and if you pay a low fee, there’s a good chance your transaction will be delayed for hours or even days. Before you send Bitcoin, make sure to check current fee rates.
Sites like mempool.space and Bitcoin Fee Estimators will give you current data on how much you should pay to get a transaction confirmed within a certain number of blocks.
2.Use RBF
If you’ve already sent Bitcoin with a low fee and it’s stuck, it doesn’t mean you’re out of options. The feature called Replace-By-Fee (RBF) lets you resend the same transaction, only with a higher fee, which increases its chances of being picked up by miners faster. In order to use RBF, your wallet has to support it and before you send the transaction, you need to enable this option.
If your transaction is waiting on confirmation, just broadcast a new one with a higher fee and the miners will pick that one up instead of the previous version. Keep in mind that RBF is not supported on all wallets, so check the settings on the one you use.
3.Opt for SegWit Transactions
SegWit, or Segregated Witness, is an upgrade to Bitcoin’s transactions format that helps speed up transactions. It reduces the amount of transaction data each one takes up in a single block, so more of them fit and the network is more efficient.
If you send Bitcoin using a wallet that has SegWit enabled, your transaction will probably be confirmed faster than the one that uses an older format, especially if the network is congested. Another great thing about SegWit is that it reduces fees because Bitcoin transaction fees are calculated based on the size of the data. Most modern Bitcoin wallets already support SegWit, but if yours doesn’t, you can always switch to another one.
4.Lightning Network
Lightning Network is the best option for nearly instant transactions. It’s a second-layer solution that allows its users to send Bitcoin through off-chain payment channels. This way, there’s no waiting for confirmation, plus the fees are significantly lower – meaning, efficient Bitcoin transactions. Lightning transactions go through within seconds, so if you make smaller payments or if you do frequent transfers, this is a good way to go.
Not all wallets support the Lightning Network because it’s still growing, so if you want to use it, check whether your wallet allows it or not. It can definitely save you a lot of time and effort.
Alternative Methods for Faster Cryptocurrency Transactions
When the network is congested and things move at snail speed, there are other ways to move your funds faster. Bitcoin ATMs are one option. They allow you to withdraw cash from your Bitcoin balance and sometimes, you’ll need fewer confirmations for it than you would for a standard online transaction. This is very useful for those that need instant access to their funds without waiting for blockchain confirmations.
Centralized exchanges are another option. Transfers between accounts on the same platform happen in an instant because there are no blockchain confirmations required. If you want speed, so when you transfer Bitcoin through an exchange like Coinbase or Binance will usually be much faster than using a public network.
Some people even turn to other cryptocurrencies that have quicker transaction speeds. Coins like Litecoin and Ethereum process their transactions faster than Bitcoin because the networks have different structures, so they’re very practical for urgent payments.
The last option are stablecoins like USDT or USDC. They run on blockchain networks like Ethereum and Tron and most times, the speed of transactions is instant. In addition to this, the fees are lower.
FAQ
1.How long do Bitcoin transactions take during peak network congestion?
When the network is overloaded, transactions can take anywhere from a few hours to even longer if fees are lower. The wait time depends on how many unconfirmed transactions are in the mempool and how high of a fee you’re willing to pay. If you want to speed things up, you can always use RBF.
2.What happens if a Bitcoin transaction is stuck and doesn’t confirm?
Most times, it stays in the mempool until miners include it in a block. But sometimes, the network drops it and then it goes back to your wallet. Most wallets return the funds if the transaction hasn’t gone through within a certain period of time, but this can be a lengthy process that can take days to resolve.
If the transaction is stuck, you can use RBF, CPFP, or simply wait.
3.How does the Bitcoin network process transactions?
The Bitcoin network is a decentralized system where miners verify transactions and add them to the blockchain. Each transaction is broadcasted to the network and then placed in the mempool, where it waits to be confirmed. Once miners pick them up, they’re eventually confirmed and added to the blockchain. When that happens, the transaction is done.
4.What determines Bitcoin transaction times?
Bitcoin transaction times are determined by three things: network congestion, transaction fees, and block confirmation speed.
Conclusion
If you’re used to traditional online payments, Bitcoin might give you a headache. Usually, it’s pretty fast. That is, until it’s not and that’s when people get frustrated. But Bitcoin isn’t your traditional bank transfer, so there’s no point in expecting it to work that way.
As with almost anything in life, most of it comes down to how much you’re willing to pay. A higher fee speeds things up, a lower fee means staring at a screen, waiting until the transaction goes through. If you’re lucky, it’s done within an hour. If you’re not, well… Grab a snack while you wait.
Although that would be simpler, the speed of Bitcoin transactions isn’t set in stone, so you never really know how long you’ll wait. There are ways of helping to speed things up and you can look up information to try to assume how long it will take, but as far as exact numbers go, nobody can give you that. It all depends, but with a little planning, you can beat the wait.
At least up to a certain point.
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