Why is My Bitcoin Transaction Still Unconfirmed? (2024)

It can be a hassle if your Bitcoin transaction isn’t confirmed immediately. This article will outline what might be causing delays.

Chances are most of your Bitcoin transactions have been quickly confirmed. It takes two confirmations from the network before your balance is fully available in your Paxful wallet. This is the industry standard for a truly secure wallet. This can take anywhere from five minutes to an hour, depending on the Bitcoin network. However, some Bitcoin transactions can take longer to be confirmed by miners. If you believe your transaction is taking longer than usual to be confirmed it could be due to mempool congestion and fees.

What is Mempool and Mempool Congestion?

Mempool is short for “memory” and “pool”. It is a way for Bitcoin to store unconfirmed transactions before being confirmed in the blockchain. It can be likened to waiting rooms at a doctor's office.

Mempool congestion is when there are many unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions waiting to be confirmed to the blockchain by miners, and this is similar to when waiting rooms are full of people to see different doctors. Mempool congestion can be caused by two things:

  • Transaction volume is high

This means the number of transactions waiting to be confirmed on the blockchain is high, and the volume of confirmations needed can’t be processed fast enough. This can be likened to when doctors are overwhelmed by the number of patients that are in the waiting room.

  • Trade hash decreased abruptly

When the trade hash decreases abruptly, it means that there are not enough miners to confirm each transaction. This is similar to when there are not enough doctors to see waiting patients. Because of this the patients or in this case, the Bitcoin confirmations must wait longer.

How Do My Transaction Fees Relate to My Waiting Time?

It’s a misconception that there is one universal mempool. This is not the case as each transaction is unique and miners have different methods of confirming each transaction to the blockchain. With various fees tied to each unique transaction, miners are likely to process transactions with higher fees faster as they collect some of the fees. If you sent or bought a lower amount of Bitcoin and paid a lower fee, you may have to wait longer.

What Should I Do If My Bitcoin Transaction is Unconfirmed?

It’s rare that a transaction never settles on the blockchain, as most transactions will settle within 72 hours. In most cases, Paxful advises you to wait 72 hours before resending the transaction. If the transaction never makes it to the blockchain after 72 hours, your Bitcoin can be found in the wallet it was originally sent from.

For more information on checking your transaction status, visit our help center article: How to Check Bitcoin Transaction Status

Why is My Bitcoin Transaction Still Unconfirmed? (2024)

FAQs

Why is My Bitcoin Transaction Still Unconfirmed? ›

It can remain unconfirmed for several reasons, such as: When the same cryptocurrency is being sent more than once; a case of double spending

double spending
Double-spending is a monetary design problem: a good money is verifiably scarce, and where a unit of value can be spent more than once, the monetary property of scarcity is challenged.
https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Double-spending
. When the user pays lower transaction fees, especially in a congested network or during high transaction activities.

How long can a Bitcoin transaction remain unconfirmed? ›

If you set your Bitcoin Transaction Fee too low it can remain unconfirmed for days or even months. If the network is continuously busy – especially during bull markets – and the fee you set is lower than everyone else then it won't get confirmed until things cool down, but this can take a long time!

Why is my BTC transaction not confirmed? ›

(What are bitcoin miner fees?) If your transaction has not been confirmed yet, please allow some time for it to be confirmed. Typically, a transaction takes between five minutes and three hours to get confirmed. This is normal, and confirmation time depends mostly on current network traffic.

Why is my Bitcoin taking forever to confirm? ›

Bitcoin transactions can take time to confirm for various reasons, such as network congestion, low transaction fees, or the size of the transaction. Typically, a Bitcoin transaction takes about 10 minutes to confirm, but it can take longer during times of high network activity.

How long does it take for a Bitcoin transaction to be confirmed? ›

Bitcoin transactions are generally considered completed once they have been confirmed in 1-6 blocks. As each block on average takes 10 minutes to be confirmed into a new block by the Bitcoin Mining process, this means your transaction will take anywhere from 0-60 minutes on average to be completed.

How do I get my unconfirmed Bitcoin back? ›

How to Cancel a Bitcoin Transaction if it is Unconfirmed? It is not possible to cancel a BTC transaction once it has been broadcast to the network. However, you can use transaction replacement mechanisms to replace the unconfirmed transaction with a new transaction that has a higher fee.

How do I accelerate unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions? ›

You can use the accelerate feature to accelerate your pending transaction by paying a higher fee. Depending on how it was sent, the accelerate feature will either use RBF or CPFP to speed up your transaction.

What happens if a Bitcoin transaction stays pending? ›

If you're trying to spend coins that are still Pending in your account, your transaction won't generate until the coins confirm. Sometimes there's a high volume of digital currency being sent globally, and there are more transactions than there is space available in each new block to include the transaction.

How do I track my unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction? ›

You can check the status of your transaction on any blockchain explorer by looking up the transaction ID, sending address, or receiving address.

Can a Bitcoin transaction take 24 hours? ›

Bitcoin's transaction times can vary greatly, ranging anywhere from ten minutes to one day. However, it will usually take between thirty minutes and two hours to complete the process.

Why is my Bitcoin verification taking so long? ›

Most verifications are processed automatically, but if you've submitted a document or image that doesn't meet the requirements, it may need to be reviewed manually — and this could cause delays. Most verifications are processed between a few minutes to few hours.

How can I make my Bitcoin confirm faster? ›

If you have sent a transaction that is taking a long time to confirm, you can speed it up by using our increase fee feature. This resends your unconfirmed transaction with a higher fee. Bitcoin miners prioritize transactions with higher fees when selecting transactions to include in a block.

What causes delay in Bitcoin transactions? ›

Delays in Bitcoin transactions can occur due to network congestion, low transaction fees, the size of the blockchain, wallet settings, network connectivity issues, transaction malleability, and miner confirmation policies.

Why is my Bitcoin transaction unconfirmed? ›

It can remain unconfirmed for several reasons, such as: When the same cryptocurrency is being sent more than once; a case of double spending. When the user pays lower transaction fees, especially in a congested network or during high transaction activities.

Who confirms bitcoin transactions? ›

The miner solves a special mathematical puzzle called a proof of work. After that, the Bitcoin Network confirms your block and adds it to the blockchain. Each new block added to the blockchain is another confirmation for your transaction.

How long does it take for Bitcoin cash transaction to be confirmed? ›

Kraken's confirmations requirements
CryptocurrencyConfirmations requiredEstimated Time* If included in the next block.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)15 confirmations2.5 hours (150 minutes)
BitDAO (BIT)Approximately 70 confirmations14 minutes
Bittensor (TAO)N/A1 minute
Bittorrent (BTT)20 confirmations2 minutes
157 more rows

What's the longest a Bitcoin transaction can take? ›

Bitcoin's transaction times can vary greatly, ranging anywhere from ten minutes to one day. However, it will usually take between thirty minutes and two hours to complete the process. It is worth keeping in mind that the average transaction time tends to be around one hour.

What is the oldest unconfirmed Bitcoin transaction? ›

The record for the longest time a Bitcoin transaction has remained unconfirmed is indefinite. A transaction could stay unconfirmed indefinitely, depending on the network traffic. If the transaction is not confirmed, the funds will be spendable again from the sender's wallet, and this may take up to 30 days.

How long can a Bitcoin transaction be pending? ›

Usually the delay is under an hour and the transaction will eventually go through normally. Occasionally, transactions aren't accepted by the rest of the network and therefore are never considered confirmed.

How long can a Bitcoin transaction stay in the mempool? ›

If a transaction is small, or if the network is congested at the moment, some transactions might be stuck in the mempool for up to 72 hours. After that, the transfer is cancelled, and all funds are returned to the crypto wallets of respective owners.

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