Bitcoin Forum

Any idea how to fix this problem?
A transaction I started on 8/29 is still not confirmed. :(
Looking for advice on what to do.
Can it be cancelled and re-submitted?
I can provide txn ID if that will help, not sure it's "safe" to do that online though.

Yeah, the transaction ID would help - and it is safe, it will be in the block chain eventually.  Just do not ever share the private keys.

Did you read the post that is pinned to the top of this sub-forum?

The one that has a title of:
"FAQ: All About Unconfirmed 0 Confirmation Transaction Fee (READ before posting!)"

You can find it here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=232979.0

there is no risk to expose your transaction id here . no one can steal your private key here .
since i am also looking the same problem with my friends that btc transaction by block chain in not confirms , some people at official blog of blockchain are saying that one of the block of bitcoin is not active so it is the problem but soon they will fix it .

Please don't post when you don't know what you are talking about. There is no "official blog of blockchain" nor is there "one of the block of bitcoin is not active". Blockchain.info IS A COMPANY,  NOT THE ACTUAL BLOCKCHAIN. THEY CAN'T DO ANYTHING TO AFFECT THE BLOCKCHAIN!!!!

Ok, I read the post about slow txn. It's dated 2013, does that still apply 3 years later?
It said it should clear within 5 days, it's been about 7 days, with 0 confirmation.
There is a note about clearing a TXN, not sure if that is the same as cancel the TXN or just clearing it from your wallet.
If I do as the post suggests to "clear" the TXN, does that return the coin to my wallet?

The TXN ID is: b0271fa77f717e459860bd145e4f4496a5f80af9e0fb4b461fbf195fb1b7a227
Is there some way to cleanly cancel the transaction where I can get the coins put back in the wallet?
I want to re-send with a fee so it actually get's through.

Please don't post in the "Technical Support" forum if you have no idea what you're talking about.


We know it's not "on the blockchain". The OP already told us that.  He said "is still not confirmed".  Confirmed means on the blockchain.  So, if it is still not confirmed, then it is still not on the blockchain. 


It is never possible to "cancel" a transaction. If you are lucky, you might be able to create a situation where an unconfirmed transaction becomes invalid.

So, what am I suppose to do here?
I have a lost transaction, lost coins that one one has.
How do I get the coins back? Are they lost forever?
The message that I was referred to said that it would post with in 5 days, since it hasn't done that and is not in the blockchain, am I just out of luck?
Is this the way things are suppose to work for BTC? I didn't realize that you could loose coins by simply not getting a confirmed TXN. That really sucks.
Feeling kinda scared at this point that im out several hundred dollars...

You can attempt to double spend the transaction (a RBF transaction) by sending one with a high fee.

No they are not lost forever. In fact, they are not lost at all. The Bitcoin either goes to whoever you sent it to or the "disappears" and is "forgotten" such that your wallet reverts to a state in which that transaction never occurred in the first place.

Again, you are not losing any money.

In order to help you create a RBF transaction, we need to know what wallet you are using. The basic idea is to tell the wallet to forget about this transaction thus allowing you to create another transaction with a high fee that spends the inputs that your unconfirmed one also spends.

Yes. Although honestly there are newer and easier ways to do some of the things listed there. It really depends on what wallet software and what version of that software you are using.

For example:
Bitcoin Core 0.9.0 included a new command line option -zapwallettxes
Bitcoin Core 0.12.0 included a new abandontransaction command available in the console.


It also says:
"If it does not, tell the sender to resend with a fee."

As you have pointed out, it did not.  So, now the sender (you) needs to re-send with a fee.


There is no such concept at the technical level in Bitcoin as "cancelling" a transaction.  You can clear it out of your own wallet, but you can't force anyone else to clear a valid transaction out of their wallet or node if they don't want to.  If you are lucky, you might be able to create a situation where the unconfirmed transaction becomes invalid.  If you can manage that, then it will become impossible for the invalid transaction to ever confirm, so most other nodes and wallets won't bother keeping track of it any longer.


The coin was never in your wallet in the first place, so it can't "return" there.  All information about the existence of bitcoins is in the blockchain.  Your wallet simply has the private keys that allow you to broadcast new transactions to get the blockchain updated.

If you "clear" the transaction, then your wallet will forget about the transaction that it sent.  It will look at the blockchain and will see that it still has the ability to spend those bitcoins.  Therefore, it will display the bitcoins to you as being under your control.  If the unconfirmed transaction ever becomes confirmed, then your wallet will remove those bitcoins from the balance that it displays to you once again.


You have a few options.

1.  You can just continue to wait and hope that someone eventually confirms the transaction for you. This could take days, weeks, months, years, or decades.  For that matter, the transaction might NEVER confirm.

2.  You can continuously re-broadcast the transaction in the hopes that someone eventually confirms the transaction for you (If you are using Bitcoin Core, then it is already doing this for you if you leave it running). This could take days, weeks, months, years, or decades.  For that matter, the transaction might NEVER confirm.

3.  You can create a new transaction that spends at least one of the same inputs, but pays a higher transaction fee so there is more incentive for miners and mining pools to confirm it for you.  To do this you would either need to import the private key into some other wallet, or you would need to get your wallet to forget about the transaction that you sent so it is willing to allow you to create a new one.


The transaction isn't lost.  Your wallet still has the transaction.  That's why your wallet thinks it no longer has control over those bitcoins.


The coins aren't lost.  They are in the blockchain where they've always been.  Your wallet still has control of them, and will continue to have that control as long as the current transaction remains unconfirmed and you don't lose your private keys.


You still have them.  Your wallet isn't showing them to you because it knows about a transaction that it is hoping will confirm in the future.  If that transaction ever confirms, then you will have lost control of the bitcoins.  If your wallet forgets about the transaction that it created, then it will show those bitcoins as being in your control.


As long as someone (you) has the private keys that provide access, they are not lost.


The message also said:
"If it does not, tell the sender to resend with a fee."


Yes.

If you don't provide enough of an incentive for miners to confirm your transaction, then you can wait a VERY long time for some generous miner to decide to confirm it for you out of the charity in their heart.  You are effectively asking them to give up some income they could make, and do something nice for you even though they don't know you and won't get anything for it.


They are not lost.  They are just sitting there waiting for a transaction to confirm.  That is the existence of ALL bitcoins at ALL times.  Bitcoins, for as much as we can say they exist, are nothing more than references in the blockchain waiting to be re-assigned to the control of someone else by a confirmed transaction.


It sucks that the bitcoins are still under your control?  It sucks that the wallet that you've chosen to use let you send a transaction with an insufficient fee? It sucks that your wallet hasn't forgotten about the transaction that it sent?  What exactly sucks?  Most of the behaviors exist for a reason.  Perhaps what sucks is that you've chosen to use a financial system that is still in its infancy, and you haven't bothered to understand at all how it works or how to use it well?


Perhaps that fear will drive you to be more careful in the future.  However, you're not out anything yet, since the transaction hasn't confirmed yet.

Bitcoin is built on inputs and outputs, your coins are right where they were until they are confirmed.  Nothing is lost as long as you have the wallet.dat.

Did you send this using Bitcoin Core?  If so, which version?   Somewhere else?  If it is bitcoin core, you have a few options.

DH and Knightkd gave good advice, the rest seem to be just trying to boost their post total.

It's Bitcoin Core, Qt version 5.2.1

What's the Bitcoin Core version? Qt doesn't matter, it's a GUI library.

Quote:
It also says:
"If it does not, tell the sender to resend with a fee."

As you have pointed out, it did not.  So, now the sender (you) needs to re-send with a fee.

What if I don't have enough spare BTC to send a second transaction?

Bitcoin Core version v0.11.0 (32-bit)

You aren't sending a second transaction. You are basically sending the first transaction again but with a higher fee.

Start Bitcoin Core with the -zapwallettxes option. See https://achow101.com/2016/07/Bitcoin-Core-Troubleshooting#option-startup for help with doing that. Once Bitcoin Core starts, you should see that the unconfirmed transaction has disappeared from your transaction history. At this point, you can now resend the Bitcoin, but make sure that you use a high fee. There should be a button that says "Choose..." for the Transaction Fee field. Click that and move the slider all the way to the right to where it says "Fast".

Also, I highly recommend that you upgrade to the latest Bitcoin Core, 0.13.0.

---

Edit:
Heh, my bad. Sorry.

Ran the following, but the TXN still shows up in the list.

Admin@Wallet ~
$ cd /cygdrive/c/Program\ Files/Bitcoin/

Admin@Wallet /cygdrive/c/Program Files/Bitcoin
$ ./bitcoin-qt.exe -zapwallettxs

Status: 0/unconfirmed
Date: 8/29/2016 22:12
To: 1LTqY3EWhptsj9rAyfvA1SFZnT58uEgVn1
Debit: -0.93160000 BTC
Net amount: -0.93160000 BTC
Transaction ID: b0271fa77f717e459860bd145e4f4496a5f80af9e0fb4b461fbf195fb1b7a227-000

It's zapwallettxes. You missed an 'e'. If it's done successfully you should get a little longer loading times because of the re-scanning.

Ok, it's doing a "Rescanning" operation now.