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Pending Transactions (BTC)

Why my BTC tx is pending?

Farhan avatar
Written by Farhan
Updated over a week ago

Why is my Bitcoin transaction pending?

Although your wallet balance is updated immediately, your transaction will remain listed as 'pending' until at least one Bitcoin miner has included it in a block. Practically speaking, if you have sent bitcoin, it will take between a few minutes and up to an hour (more in extreme cases) before the transaction is confirmed.

How long will my Bitcoin transaction be listed as pending?

In general, it depends on the fee setting you choose when you created your Bitcoin transaction. Use the following as a rough guide:

Fee setting

Estimated time to confirm transaction

Eco

Less than 60 minutes

Fast

Less than 30 minutes

Fastest

0-20 minutes

Bitcoin transactions incur a fee which is paid to the miners that confirm them. Transactions with higher fees are picked up sooner by miners (who optimize for profitability), so higher-fee transactions are more likely to be included in the next block. This means you can opt for faster transaction processing by paying a higher fee. Alternatively, if you're not in a rush to have your transaction confirmed, you can save money by opting for a lower fee.

The default speed ("Fast") in the Bitcoin.com Wallet app is set to have your transaction confirmed most likely within the next three blocks (so less than 30 minutes). If you change it to "Fastest," you'll pay a higher fee and likely have your transaction confirmed in the next two blocks (so less than 20 minutes). Changing it to "Eco" will save you some money, but still most likely result in your transaction getting confirmed within the next six blocks, so generally less than 60 minutes. Advanced users also have the option of setting a custom fee.

Please refer to this article, which has more detail on Bitcoin fees and step-by-step instructions on how to manage them in the Bitcoin.com Wallet app.

Note that, while the above times will be accurate in the vast majority of cases, in the unlikely event of extreme congestion on the Bitcoin network, your transaction may remain pending for significantly longer. But don't worry, if broadcasted transactions aren't picked up by a miner, they are automatically cancelled (meaning the funds are 'returned' to the sender's wallet).

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