Bitcoin Forum

Can someone tell me if it's normal for it to take 4+ hours, and still have zero confirmations? I sent some coins to BTCe at around 5:30, and again at 7:30, and neither of the transactions have even 1 confirmation! This is frustrating to say the least!

Thank you in advance for your replies!

It's not normal, but nor is it uncommon to have delays.  Did you pay a transaction fee?

Some details would be helpful in discussing your issue.

TransactionID?

Address sent to?

Amount sent?

Did you include a fee?

How many inputs?

Some transactions (low priority with no fee) may never confirm.

High priority with a fee will typically confirm within a few blocks.

how can some transactions NEVER confirm?  what becomes of the BTC in that case?  is it lost in the ether?

Does this help?

https://blockchain.info/tx/c34d58bef851268ec055c68cfab2ead5baef74066021eb74953b92d494e9c064

You have not included a fee.

Check your settings in blockchain and always include a small fee. I think .001 BTC is normal.

The transaction should go through, but you will need to give it a day or so.

Just sit back and try to relax. I have been there.

The good news:

• The transaction has no outputs less than 0.01 BTC.
• The transaction is only 257 bytes.
• The 6.89 BTC input already has 72 confirmations at this time.

If any of the three items listed above were not true, this transaction would be treated as "low priority".


The bad news:

• The transaction did not include a fee.

The miners will fill the blocks with transactions that paid a fee.  When there are not enough fee-paying transactions to fill a block, most miners will include some "high priority" free transactions in the available space.  It may take a while (hours, maybe even a day or two), but the transaction should confirm eventually.  In the future include a small fee (0.0005 BTC should be enough) to get your transaction confirmed within the next few blocks.

Can you tell me where to include the fee in the settings? I had thought that it always included a fee, but I guess I was wrong! I've made 96 transactions with this wallet with the same setting, and always had the transaction complete within minutes.

Thanks!

What happens depends a lot on what wallet program you are using.

If the wallet you are using does not re-broadcast the transaction, then eventually the network forgets about it.  Depending on the wallet program you are using, the funds might appear back in your wallet.  If your wallet continues to re-broadcast the transaction (and if it can get through the spam filter rules of the peers you are connected to), then the transaction will remain in the memory pool of the nodes on the network continuing to wait for confirmation possibly forever (or at least for a VERY long time).

I finally got confirmation! I still don't know how to set it to include a fee though. I'm using a Blockchain wallet, and I've looked through all the settings, and can't seem to find where to add it. I just assumed it always included it. I have no problem with the fee at all, in fact, it used to ask if I wanted to include a fee, and I always did. Not sure why it stopped doing that?

Go to:

Wallet Home >> Account settings (right side of page) >> Continue >> General >> Default Fee Policy

Set to "Generous"

EDIT: glad to hear you have a confirmation.

Thanks brother, I appreciate the help!!