All about "stuck" transactions and what you can do to fix them

[ozbits0908]

My transaction has been stuck for 4 days....I transferred from one exchange to another, paid the fee that the exchanged asked me to paid.

anyone please help PLEASE!

Transaction ID

7cbf0bbdaad69e0b0e19649f6b456afbf3f6af0a73f834ba496390ee64cf22c7

Thanks a lot

[stevegee58]

My transaction has been stuck for 4 days....I transferred from one exchange to another, paid the fee that the exchanged asked me to paid.

anyone please help PLEASE!

Transaction ID

7cbf0bbdaad69e0b0e19649f6b456afbf3f6af0a73f834ba496390ee64cf22c7

Thanks a lot

The whole point of the post at the beginning of this thread is for you to be able to do this yourself:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1802212.0

Your transaction has 45 sat/byte fee which is kind of on the low side.  Check out the "Fee per byte" field:
https://blockchain.info/tx/7cbf0bbdaad69e0b0e19649f6b456afbf3f6af0a73f834ba496390ee64cf22c7
You might consider increasing the fee using the suggestions here:
https://bitcoinfees.earn.com/
You can replace the transaction using the double-spend method.

You can also request a miner to give your transaction priority which is easy, doesn't cost anything and you can do it yourself.  Nobody in this thread has magical powers to do this, in spite of appearances.

[achow101]

This is not the place to ask for people to tip you for using a free accelerator service or to ask about accelerating transactions. Use a thread if you have a problem with that. All posts asking for help and offering the same accelerator service will be deleted.

[promise444c5]

Electrum

To create a transaction that can be replaceable, go to Tools > Preferences and check the box "Enable Replace-By-Fee". Then when you want to send some Bitcoin, next to the Fee slider is a box labeled "Replaceable". Check that box so that while the transaction is still unconfirmed you can replace the transaction with one that pays a higher fee.

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.

This content still holds true for a older version  of Electrum  wallet and it might be needed by Users of older versions of Electrum.
However, the new Version  now supports an Automatic RBF inclusion for every transaction made so there's always a chance to replace or simply Bump transaction fee if the need arises for all Electrum Wallet Users

[Quickseller]

Can my name please be removed from the OP? I have not been able to help with stuck transactions for years and still receive messages asking for help

[shield132]

Electrum

To create a transaction that can be replaceable, go to Tools > Preferences and check the box "Enable Replace-By-Fee". Then when you want to send some Bitcoin, next to the Fee slider is a box labeled "Replaceable". Check that box so that while the transaction is still unconfirmed you can replace the transaction with one that pays a higher fee.

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.

This content still holds true for a older version  of Electrum  wallet and it might be needed by Users of older versions of Electrum.
However, the new Version  now supports an Automatic RBF inclusion for every transaction made so there's always a chance to replace or simply Bump transaction fee if the need arises for all Electrum Wallet Users

Some nodes support full rbf if I am not mistaken because some transactions with full rbf titles popped up on mempool.space when I was checking them for average transaction fees. Btw people who are looking for solutions, usually receive money from exchanges, casinos or other third parties that don't support rbf and don't accelerate transactions or give you private keys. That's why so many people are looking for transaction accelerators.

Can my name please be removed from the OP? I have not been able to help with stuck transactions for years and still receive messages asking for help

I'm so sorry, I have been promoting you for years as the person who has some access to f2pool and can accelerate bitcoin transactions I couldn't imagine if my marketing was so successful.

[achow101]

This content still holds true for a older version  of Electrum  wallet and it might be needed by Users of older versions of Electrum.
However, the new Version  now supports an Automatic RBF inclusion for every transaction made so there's always a chance to replace or simply Bump transaction fee if the need arises for all Electrum Wallet Users

Updated to say that opt in RBF is always on.

Can my name please be removed from the OP? I have not been able to help with stuck transactions for years and still receive messages asking for help

Done. Updated that section in general to point to the services rather than to specific people.

[Pmalek]

@achow101
You made a mistake with the hyperlink under the The difference between the types of RBF transactions heading. The code isn't right, and it currently shows as [urlhttps://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0125.mediawiki]BIP 125[/url]. Please add "=" in the appropriate place to make it a proper hyperlink: BIP 125

[Wronsk]

Is it possible to tell your own node to forget the transaction, then connect to your node from electrum, for example, to resend it?

[achow101]

Is it possible to tell your own node to forget the transaction, then connect to your node from electrum, for example, to resend it?

No.

That wouldn't really do anything useful, and would be misleading. The user might think a transaction has been dropped and a new one propagated, but in actuality, only their own node knows about the new transaction and it has not been propagated to other nodes since you cannot force other nodes to drop a transaction.

[Jason Brendon]

Hi Chow101,
I have a question here regarding the stuck transaction. If I previously broadcast a transaction through my own node with a fee low enough that has not been confirmed for almost 10 months.
Will it always be there until it's confirmed? is there a rule that after some certain time that passed, an unconfirmed transaction will be dropped out?

[achow101]

Hi Chow101,
I have a question here regarding the stuck transaction. If I previously broadcast a transaction through my own node with a fee low enough that has not been confirmed for almost 10 months.
Will it always be there until it's confirmed? is there a rule that after some certain time that passed, an unconfirmed transaction will be dropped out?

The default mempool policy will drop a transaction if it has been in the mempool for more than 2 weeks.

However, this does not mean that the transaction is canceled or otherwise invalid. It can still be re-broadcast by anyone and therefore be accepted back into nodes' mempools after it has been kicked out. If you are using the Bitcoin Core wallet, it will attempt to rebroadcast any of its own unconfirmed transactions every 24 hours.

[Jason Brendon]

Hi Chow101,
If I set nSequence to be 0xffffffff and broadcast that transaction. Will it be considered safe as nobody can double-spend it before it's getting into the block? Thank you.

[un_rank]

If I set nSequence to be 0xffffffff and broadcast that transaction.

I think this is a regular transaction cause the nSequence is the UNIT_MAX. It ignores nlocktime^[1] and RBF, so it cannot be double spent by you.

[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/NLockTime

- Jay -

[Jason Brendon]

If I set nSequence to be 0xffffffff and broadcast that transaction.

I think this is a regular transaction cause the nSequence is the UNIT_MAX. It ignores nlocktime^[1] and RBF, so it cannot be double spent by you.

[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/NLockTime

- Jay -

Thanks. But does it also mean that anybody else won't be able to double spend it even if they have the private key?

[suzanne5223]

If I set nSequence to be 0xffffffff and broadcast that transaction.

I think this is a regular transaction cause the nSequence is the UNIT_MAX. It ignores nlocktime^[1] and RBF, so it cannot be double spent by you.

[1] https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/NLockTime

- Jay -

Thanks. But does it also mean that anybody else won't be able to double spend it even if they have the private key?

Technically, yes. This is if she uses the exact nSequence you used.
The response of the transaction, when you want to double-spend, is determined by the nSeqequence you use and if the nSequence is equal or less than UINT_MAX (0xffffffff) the nLockTime will automatically ignored which means the transaction will not be accepted into any block.

[nc50lc]

If I set nSequence to be 0xffffffff and broadcast that transaction. Will it be considered safe as nobody can double-spend it before it's getting into the block? Thank you.

That was the faulty assumption before "mempoolrbf" option is implemented.
"Faulty" because even if most nodes wont accept a replacement of it by default, there's no stopping anyone to remove it from their mempool and accept the replacement instead.
It's a race on which one to reach the miners' (pool or solo) node to get included to the blockchain. It's also up to them which transaction to include to the block their mining.
If more of saying "it may not be replaced" than "it will not be replaced".

It was mainly used by centralized service to implement zero-fee deposits with low risk on their part
but since they are custodial, they are still in control of what their users can withdraw from their service in case the unconfirmed transaction is replaced.
In your case, you mustn't assume that it's safe.

And speaking of mempoolrbf option a.k.a. "full-rbf".
If a node enabled the option, it will accept replacements regardless if nSequence field of the transaction is 0xffffffff or 0xffffffff -1.
I've tested this before and I can say that it's now easy to replace an unconfirmed transaction without opt-in-rbf flag as long a you can broadcast the replacement to nodes that accept it.
(with the right conditions)

-snip-

-snip-

OP must be referring to BIP125 (Opt-in Full RBF Signaling), a.k.a. "rbf" since nLocktime has nothing to do with transaction replacement.
BIP-0125: Opt-in Full Replace-by-Fee Signaling

[Jason Brendon]

"Faulty" because even if most nodes wont accept a replacement of it by default, there's no stopping anyone to remove it from their mempool and accept the replacement instead.
It's a race on which one to reach the miners' (pool or solo) node to get included to the blockchain. It's also up to them which transaction to include to the block their mining.
If more of saying "it may not be replaced" than "it will not be replaced".

It was mainly used by centralized service to implement zero-fee deposits with low risk on their part
but since they are custodial, they are still in control of what their users can withdraw from their service in case the unconfirmed transaction is replaced.
In your case, you mustn't assume that it's safe.

And speaking of mempoolrbf option a.k.a. "full-rbf".
If a node enabled the option, it will accept replacements regardless if nSequence field of the transaction is 0xffffffff or 0xffffffff -1.
I've tested this before and I can say that it's now easy to replace an unconfirmed transaction without opt-in-rbf flag as long a you can broadcast the replacement to nodes that accept it.
(with the right conditions)

i think it makes a lot of sense here.
Question: is there a way i can make sure that my broadcast transaction in the mempool won't be replaced by anybody? (someone may have the same private key i have)
Or is it still a race like you said?
Thank you.

[nc50lc]

-snip-

Question: is there a way i can make sure that my broadcast transaction in the mempool won't be replaced by anybody? (someone may have the same private key i have)
Or is it still a race like you said?

There's no way to do that.
Take note that there's no single Bitcoin mempool, each node has their own mempool.
So since each node has their own mempool, they have the control to accept the replacement or not.

In a scenario when someone broadcast a replacement to your transaction with priority fee,
it a matter of which will propagate (to more nodes) to quickly reach a miners mempool that could get it included to the next block.

BTW, question like this deserves a new topic since it's not related to the topic,
If the main reason is you want to reach a certain user, you may use @username to mention them, most users respond to that.