The way that the soft forks work is that it makes something previously valid invalid. This means that it is backwards compatible, old nodes won't reject stuff made with the new rules. However, that also means that something invalid under the new rules can still be valid under the old rules. If miners and nodes are still running nodes with the old rules, then they will accept those transactions and blocks as valid, but not the new nodes. This can cause a split in the network and potentially a blockchain fork, and just be a major pain to resolve.

The point of the 95% signalling is so that everyone knows that it is safe to use the new rules because the miners are promising that they will use the new rules when creating blocks. It ensures that nearly all miners will enforce the new rules which means that the likelihood for a chain split is much much lower.

There is no one singular way that allows you to compile all altcoins ever. Each one is a separate project with its own way of building it. There is no unified build system that every coin uses which somehow magically allows you to compile every single coin with the exact same set of commands.

It all depends on the project you are building, whether they forked off of Bitcoin Core or some other altcoin, and when that happened. Usually they have documentation in a doc/ folder which will tell you how to compile the software, but that documentation may be out of date because a lot of people don't know how to write documentation or know that they need to update it as things change.

If you want specific instructions as to how to compile the source code for a specific coin, then you need to tell us what that coin is and allow us to look at the source code because something that works on one altcoin may not necessarily work on the next.

Bitcoin Core does allow you to rebroadcast transactions. You use the debug console and use the sendrawtransaction command to send the transaction. Even if the transaction is in the mempool, it will be broadcast again.

As for transaction fees, again, Bitcoin Core supports dynamic transaction fees and allows you to choose your fee. When you send, there is a button labeled Choose next to the Transaction Fee label. Just click that and you get advanced options for transaction fees.

You should use any wallet that is listed here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. The website gives decent descriptions of the security and privacy of the wallet along with a brief description. The wallets listed here have to meet certain requirements in order to be listed. I highly recommend that you do not use blockchain.info (it isn't listed on that website for a reason). I highly recommend that you use Bitcoin Core if you are ok with running a full node (requires syncing the entire blockchain, which can take a while) or use Electrum if you don't want to deal with running a full node.

That is an issue with your wallet software, not with Bitcoin or anything else. Your wallet software is being confused by the double spends. Users here cannot help you with that, you will have to contact blockchain.info's support to have them fix it for you.

That it continuously fails is usually indicative of hardware issues. Bitcoin Core is very hardware intensive and can cause issues with RAM or the hard drive to become noticeable. Try running some hardware diagnostics on your computer to see if it finds any issues with your computer.

The way that getbalance works currently cannot check the balance of an individual address. However the whole accounts system in Bitcoin Core has been deprecated and is being removed, so you will probably be able to do that in a major release or two (after 0.14).

The accounts are the same as the Labels that you see in the Receiving Addresses list. By default, the account is blank, so you would type
in order to get the balance of all of your wallets.

For one address, you could assign it its own account by changing the label and callling
where <account> is the label you gave the address.

Because he can't. Almost no wallet allows you do make a CPFP transaction because that involves spending from an unconfirmed transaction. Given that he is using either Blockchain.info or Coinbase, he basically has no access to the private keys in order to even attempt an advanced method of making a CPFP transaction.

Secondly, I'm not sure how well a CPFP transaction would work for covering three ancestor transactions. Also, the fee for that would cost around 0.002 BTC because it has to cover 4 transactions of unconfirmed transactions.

The times that the block explorers report do not matter and are typically not reflective of the time that the transaction was actually made. Ignore that, all that matters here is the transaction id.

There are multiple problems with your transaction. First and foremost, your transaction spends from an unconfirmed transaction (I will call this Tx 1): https://blockchain.info/tx/0cca850d39a87be0c6e958049ede276cca19bebc8c68a809e3e3b5bd31b03a1f which spends from another unconfirmed transaction (I will call this Tx 2): https://blockchain.info/tx/3ffbe09b0967b52dbda5ef46995a420dae5c227a92bd3baecb2041842cf99b6e

Your transaction cannot confirm until Tx 1 confirms, and that cannot confirm until Tx 2 confirms. This is what is primarily preventing your transaction from confirming.

Tx 2 pays a very low transaction fee, only 35 satoshis/byte. The current recommended transaction fee is 160 satoshis/byte according to http://bitcoinfees.21.co/. Tx 1 and your transaction also pay fairly low transaction fees, only ~65 satoshis/byte.

Unfortunately all you can do is wait or ask a miner for help. For asking miners for help, you can contact the users Quickseller and macbook-air. You can also try using https://www.viabtc.com/tools/txaccelerator/ to "accelerate" your transaction.

With waiting, since you are the recipient, you want to constantly remind the Bitcoin network that those three transactions exist so that the sender does not scam you by double spending the Bitcoin so you should constantly rebroadcast the transactions (although rebroadcasting does not prevent double spending, it can make it harder to do so). To rebroadcast the transactions, get the raw transaction by appending ?format=hex to the blockchain.info URL's for each transaction. Then copy and paste everything you see in that page (should just be a blank page with a bunch of random looking letters and numbers, that's the hex code of the transaction) into https://blockchain.info/pushtx and push the transaction. Do that periodically (maybe once a day). Other people can and probably will also rebroadcast the transactions for you.

You can attempt the RBF transaction that I described in the post I linked to above. Note that this actually creates a second transaction which is considered a double spend, so the recipient may not like that, especially if it is an online service. Otherwise you can wait or ask miners for help.

There is no way to modify a transaction once it has been signed and sent. Any modification makes the transaction a new transaction entirely.

Blockchain.info is both a shitty software and is a third party software. Blockchain.info is not the blockchain. They do not run Bitcoin, they are just a service. Blockchain.info does nothing "official" with Bitcoin, they are not any sort of authority.

You did not lose any money, just that you attempted to spend money twice, which is not allowed. Tx 4 and Tx 5 will either confirm and the Bitcoin will go the recipient or they won't confirm and your wallet will revert to a state where those Bitcoin were never sent in the first place.

With Tx 1 and 3, either one of them will confirm, or neither will confirm. If one of them confirms, then the Bitcoin goes to whoever you sent the Bitcoin to in the transaction that confirms. If neither confirm, then your wallet will revert to a state where those transactions never happened in the first place.

Those comments are not actually part of the transaction. They are part of blockchain.info's database. You won't see those comments anywhere else except on blockchain.info.

Your transactions are a mess of double spends and spending from unconfirmed transactions.

I will be referring to your transaction in the order you posted them.

Tx 1 (cd334...) is double spent by Tx 3 (e134...) and Tx 2 (2376...). Tx 2 spends from 3 unconfirmed ouputs from Tx 3, Tx 4 (b64c...) and Tx 5 (bd55...)

I have no idea how you ended up with this mess, but whatever wallet software you are using is probably broken.

Tx 2 can never confirm because it spends from Tx 3 which itself double spends. Either Tx 1 or Tx 3 will confirm because they are double spends of each other. Only one of them can confirm. Of these remaining 4 transactions, they all pay a low transaction fee rate so it is unlikely that they will confirm soon. They pay ~55 sat/byte where the recommended fee rate is 180 sat/byte according to http://bitcoinfees.21.co/.

Read https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1802212.0 for help with speeding up either Tx 1 or Tx 3 and Tx 4 and Tx 5.

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Also, please do not make duplicate posts in other sections.

Blockchain.info does not support making RBF transactions, so you cannot spend the Bitcoin again with a higher transaction fee.

What wallet software are you using.

Read https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1802212.0

What is a "Stuck" transaction? How are they caused?

A "stuck" transaction is a transaction which has remained unconfirmed for period of time which either the receiver or the sender is uncomfortable with. Stuck transactions can be annoying as it means that recipients often consider the senders to not have paid yet, or the recipient needs the money as soon as possible.

Stuck transactions are typically caused by low transaction fee rates. However other things can cause stuck transactions such as spending from an unconfirmed transaction, having dust outputs in the transaction, or being a double spend of another transaction. If a transaction has a double spending transaction and the double spend confirms, then the transaction will be "stuck" forever as it can never confirm.

What can I do to make my stuck transaction confirm?

There are a few options for confirming stuck transactions.

For both the recipient and the sender of the transaction, you can:

• Wait for the transaction to confirm
• Wait for the network to "forget" about the transaction
• Ask a miner to confirm it for you

For the sender of a transaction, you can also:

• Attempt an Replace-By-Fee double spend transaction
• If you have a change output, you can attempt a Child-Pays-For-Parent transaction

For the recipient of a transaction, you can also:

• Attempt a Child-Pays-For-Parent transaction

Waiting for a confirmation

If you are incapable of performing any of the other options are are too afraid to do so, you can simply wait and hope that the transaction will eventually confirm. To make sure that network is constantly being reminded of the transaction, you can rebroadcast the transaction periodically. Most wallets will rebroadcast automatically, so simply leaving your wallet open will allow rebroadcasting to happen.

Waiting for the network to "forget" about the transaction

If a transaction remains unconfirmed for too long, it can be eventually "forgotten" by most nodes on the Bitcoin network if no one rebroadcasts the transaction. This happens due to node restarts, mempool expiry times, or mempool eviction because the minimum relay fee has increased. This process typically takes a few days (usually 3). Once a transaction has been "forgotten", you may not see it in your wallet and you probably will not see the transaction in most block explorers. Once the transaction has been "forgotten", you can simply send the Bitcoin again but include a higher transaction fee. If you still see the transaction in your wallet, you will need to follow the instructions in the next Replace-By-Fee Section.

Note that some wallets will continuously rebroadcast the transaction while the wallet is on, so you either have to remove the transaction from the wallet using the instructions in the RBF section, or shut down the wallet and keep it off for several days.


Ask a miner for help

Some mining pools and miners offer services to allow you to prioritize your transaction in their mempool so that it is chosen sooner for inclusion in a block. The mining pools F2Pool and ViaBTC both offer transaction acceleration for an additional out-of-band fee. Please visit their linked websites for more details.

The blockchain explorer https://mempool.space/ also offers a transaction acceleration service as they have connections with several mining pools. You will find an "Accelerate" button next to the transaction fee on any unconfirmed transaction. This can be used to pay out-of-band for the transaction to be mined in a block sooner.

Also note that if you attempt an Replace-By-Fee transaction, both the original transaction and the RBF transaction will be considered double spends and miners will likely not help with any transactions marked as double spends.

Attempting a Replace-By-Fee (RBF) double spend transaction

What is an RBF transaction

A Replace-By-Fee transaction is a transaction that is nearly identical to your stuck transaction but pays a higher transaction fee. Since the original transaction most likely does not use Opt-in RBF, the RBF transaction that we will be creating will be considered a double spend and marked as such. The transaction uses Full-RBF and thus may still take a little bit longer to confirm as it is technically a double spend.

The difference between the types of RBF transactions

Replace-By-Fee transactions have 3 different types, First-Seen-Safe(FSS) RBF, Full RBF, and Opt-in RBF. FSS RBF requires that the RBF transaction include the same outputs as the transaction it replaces and consumes the same inputs. Full RBF means that the transaction is simply a double spend of another transaction but pays a higher transaction fee than the one(s) it replaces. Opt-in RBF means that the RBF transaction can only replace a transaction that has Opted-in to allowing itself to be replaced. Opt-in RBF follows BIP 125.

The instructions given in this section will be for making Full RBF transactions. Opt-in RBF transactions will be described in the "Avoiding Stuck Transactions In The Future" section.

How to make a Full RBF transaction

Making a Full RBF transaction depends entirely on the wallet that you are using. Some wallet support the advanced functionality required to make a Full RBF transaction, others do not. The following will be guides for each wallet on how to make a Full RBF transaction with that wallet. In general the procedure is to remove the unconfirmed transaction from the wallet and then resend the Bitcoin but with a higher transaction fee.

When making a Full RBF transaction, the transaction should include the recommended fee rate at the time of creating the transaction. See the "Avoiding this issue in the future" section for help with that.

Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Core makes making Full RBF transactions very easy. Simply go to the transactions list, right click the transaction that is stuck, and choose the "Abandon Transaction" option.

If that option is greyed out, then you must go to the Bitcoin Core datadir and delete the mempool.dat file. Then restart Bitcoin Core with the -walletbroadcast=0 option and then you should be able to use "Abandon Transaction".

Once the transaction is either Abandoned or cleared from the wallet, you can simply go to the Send tab and send the Bitcoin again but make sure that you include a sufficient transaction fee.

Bitcoin Armory

Bitcoin Armory also makes making Full RBF transactions very easy. Go to Help > Clear All Unconfirmed Transactions and restart Armory. This will clear all of the unconfirmed transactions from the wallet and thus allow you to create the Full RBF transaction. Once Armory has restarted, simply send the Bitcoin again as you normally would but be sure to include a sufficient transaction fee.

MultiBit HD

MultiBit HD allows for making Full RBF transactions fairly easy as well. Go to Manage Wallet and click on Repair Wallet and follow the wizard. This process will clear all of the unconfirmed transactions from your wallet much like Bitcoin Core and Armory do. Once repair wallet has completed, simply send the Bitcoin again as you normally would.

Wallets that do not allow you to or ones that I don't know how to make Full RBF transactions

Not all wallets support the creation of Full RBF transactions. Many wallets do not allow clearing all unconfirmed transactions to allow for making Full RBF transactions. The following is a list of wallet software which do not support Full RBF transactions. If a wallet on this list does support FullRBF transactions, please let me know and provide instructions for that so I can add it above.

• Blockchain.info and web wallets in general
• Electrum (supports Opt-in RBF, but not Full RBF)
• Mycelium
• MultiBit Classic
• Bitcoin Wallet for Android
• Breadwallet
• Copay

Attempting a Child-Pays-For-Parent transaction

What is a Child-Pays-For-Parent transaction?

A Child-Pays-For-Parent (CPFP) transaction is exactly as the name implies, a child transaction spends from an unconfirmed parent transaction and includes a transaction fee which covers both the fee of the child and the parent. However creating CPFP transactions are much more difficult as it requires spending from an unconfirmed transaction, something that most wallets do not allow.

How can I avoid making Stuck transactions in the future?

Using Dynamic Fees

The best way to avoid having stuck transactions is to make sure that you are not spending from an unconfirmed transaction, and include a sufficient transaction fee. If your wallet supports dynamic transaction fees, you should use those. If you want very fast confirmations, set the dynamic fees to choose the fastest fee possible. Dynamic fees are calculated by the wallet by analyzing the current state of the network and determining an optimal transaction fee from there. Because the state of the network constantly changes, the optimal transaction fee calculated one day may not necessarily be the best fee for the next day.

If your wallet does not support dynamic fees but does support setting a custom transaction fee rate for each transaction, you can look up the optimal fee rate on sites like https://mempool.space/ and https://bitcoinfees.github.io/ and set the fee rate for each transaction based on those sites. You must do this for each transaction you make otherwise you may end up paying a sub-optimal fee.

If your wallet does not support any sort of fee rate or does not allow setting custom transaction fees, you should upgrade to a new wallet. Using a fixed fee or fixed fee rate is no longer a good idea as the network constantly changes. You can use this formula: <in>*148 + <out>*34 + 10 where <in> is the number of inputs and <out> is the number of outputs to estimate the size of your transaction and determine the optimal fee for it.

Note that some wallets (e.g. blockchain.info), even though they use dynamic fees, set an upper limit to the transaction fee. If you notice that your transactions are constantly being stuck even though you are using dynamic fees, you should check the settings of your wallet and perhaps even switch to a new wallet which has no limit to the transaction fee.

Use Opt-In RBF

Opt-In RBF is a feature that allows for an RBF transaction to be more easily created as these transactions will not be rejected by nodes supporting Opt-In RBF.

Currently several wallets support creating Opt-In RBF transactions, many by default.

Bitcoin Core

Opt-in-RBF is enabled by default, but can also be enabled or disabled on a per-transaction basis. On the "Send" tab, clicking on "Choose..." next to the transaction fee field will give access to the "Enable Replace-By-Fee" checkbox. Checking this will enable Opt-in RBF for the transaction, although it should already be checked by default.

Unconfirmed transactions that have opted in to RBF can have their fee increased by right clicking the transaction in the "Transactions" tab and choosing the "Increase transaction fee" option.

Electrum

Electrum always creates transactions with Opt-in RBF enabled.

To increase the fee of a transaction that uses Opt-In RBF, right click the transaction in the history list and choose the "Increase Fee" option.

Armory

Armory also allows for the creation of RBF transactions. When sending a transaction, choose the checkbox "Enable RBF".

To increase the fee of a transaction that uses Opt-In RBF, right click the transaction in the transactions list and choose the "Bump Fee" option. Transactions whose fee can be increased are labeled clearly in the transactions list.

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This post is meant as a more thorough update to https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=232979.0.

If there are any inaccuracies or if I am missing anything, please let me know and I can add it. If anyone has instructions for CPFP or RBF with any wallets, please let me know and give me the detailed instructions so I can add them to the post.

Hmm. Interesting. I haven't used Electrum in a while so I was going off of what I have heard other people say. Sorry about that.

Just wait.

It means that the transaction was likely rejected by the network.

It sounds like you are using MultiBit classic, an outdated wallet which no longer creates transactions that will always be relayed due to node policy changes. If that is the case, you should upgrade to a new wallet.

Bitcoin does not magically become lost. A double spend created by you does not mean that you have lost your Bitcoin. It simply means that your second set of transactions spend from the same inputs as the first set of transactions. Because both spend from the same inputs, the transactions conflict and are thus double spends. Only one transaction out of a set of double spends will be able to confirm. Once one does, the rest of the transactions become invalid and can never confirm.

One of the double spends will either confirm. The Bitcoin will either end up with whoever you sent it to, or back to your original wallet when the network "forgets" about the transaction (although this takes a few days and people constantly rebroadcast other people's transactions so the first scenario is much more likely).

That your wallet says "negative balance" and gives you errors has nothing to do with Bitcoin and everything to do with a poorly written and designed wallet software.