Transactions coming from Blockchain.info taking forever to confirm lately?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Correction there is no cost to the miner.

Miners ALREADY prioritize txs for selection into the next block.  The patch simply changes the rules on how they will be prioritized.

Won't it delay some TX that would have payed a fee?

Possibly but many miners are curently capping block size anyways as current fees don't justify the increased risk of orphans on larger block.  So right now there are paying tx NOT being included in the next block.  In many cases picking paying tx A over paying tx B isn't going to cause a net change in revenue.

That may change in the future, it remains to be seen.

[Peter R]

Blocks only allow 27KB (~60 avg sized txs) of free txs.   I would strongly recommend paying the min fee (0.1mBTC) even on tx which can be "free" (high priority).

Thanks D&T for those precise numbers.  The problem for a lot of us is that we use the Blockchain.info app for iOS (does Android have the same problem?) and we can't force the app to include a 0.0001 BTC fee.  

I think piuk would have to address this problem.

Well if you have a broken wallet your only options are
a) stop using it
b) advocate the author fix it (although since piuk STILL uses GPU numbers for one of his miner profit charts I wouldn't hold your breath)
c) do both

b) advocate the author fix it (although since piuk STILL uses GPU numbers for one of his miner profit charts I wouldn't hold your breath)

This is the reason I am leaving these comments.

a) stop using it

The concern is new users.  AFAIK, this is the only mobile wallet for iOS.  A lot of people coming into bitcoin now will never install a wallet on the computer.  They want something simple for their phone.  

c) do both

Or better: work on new payment solutions to make it easier and more secure for new users to participate in the bitcoin economy!
  

[Barek]

I just checked the blockchain wallet in the browser.

Transaction Type
 Quick Send
 Custom

Under Custom you can enter a miner's fee. That does not work?

[Peter R]

I just checked the blockchain wallet in the browser.

Transaction Type
 Quick Send
 Custom

Under Custom you can enter a miner's fee. That does not work?

Yes, but only from a web browser.  This is not an option with the mobile app.

[piuk]

All blockchain.info apps and the web wallet will not include a transaction fee automatically if the priority of the transaction is less than 57 million (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_fees). This has worked fine in the past however the recent transaction spike (https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions) means there is no block space left for free transactions, causing them to be significantly delayed.

An update to the web interface will be deployed shortly so a fee will always be included if there is more than 1000 unconfirmed transactions in blockchain.info's memory pool. Therefore at none "peak times", such as weekends, there is possibility that some transactions can still be made for free.

The iPhone app will take much longer to update (it also does not respect the fee policy set in the [Account Settings] of the web interface). I'm sorry there isn't much that can be done about that.

[Peter R]

All blockchain.info apps and the web wallet will not include a transaction fee automatically if the priority of the transaction is less than 57 million (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_fees). This has worked fine in the past however the recent transaction spike (https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions) means there is no block space left for free transactions, causing them to be significantly delayed.

An update to the web interface will be deployed shortly so a fee will always be include if there is more than 1000 unconfirmed transactions in blockchain.info's memory pool. Therefore at none "peak times", such as weekends, there is possibility that some transactions can still be made for free.

Talk about service: post a comment and get a response from the creator of the wallet himself!  

You have made an enormous contribution to bitcoin, piuk.  Thanks for everything!

The iPhone app will take much longer to update (it also does not respect the fee policy set in the [Account Settings] of the web interface). I'm sorry there isn't much I can do about that.

May I ask why you can't do much about it?  Is it a technical problem, an issue with politics at Apple, or something else?

EDIT: is there a way to donate to blockchain.info?  I couldn't find anything on the website. 

[DeathAndTaxes]

All blockchain.info apps and the web wallet will not include a transaction fee automatically if the priority of the transaction is less than 57 million (https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Transaction_fees).

Typo?  I think you mean >57 million.

This has worked fine in the past however the recent transaction spike (https://blockchain.info/charts/n-transactions) means there is no block space left for free transactions, causing them to be significantly delayed.

Agreed that is a large part of the problem.

An update to the web interface will be deployed shortly so a fee will always be include if there is more than 1000 unconfirmed transactions in blockchain.info's memory pool. Therefore at none "peak times", such as weekends, there is possibility that some transactions can still be made for free.

That sounds like a partial solution however why not also have a check box that says "include 0.1 mBTC fee per KB for faster processing"?
This provides a black and white simple to understand choice for users.

[Peter Todd]

An update to the web interface will be deployed shortly so a fee will always be included if there is more than 1000 unconfirmed transactions in blockchain.info's memory pool.

Calculate it based on the total sum size of the transactions, not the number of them.

[piuk]

May I ask why you can't do much about it?  Is it a technical problem, an issue with politics at Apple, or something else?

EDIT: is there a way to donate to blockchain.info?  I couldn't find anything on the website. 

In the past we have been afraid of updating the app due to Apple's anti bitcoin policy. It seems like this policy may have changed now though.

Any donations appreciated 16gKb8fYGdvrmuMmir6mQG5MN6nUroriF3

That sounds like a partial solution however why not also have a check box that says "include 0.1 mBTC fee per KB for faster processing"?
This provides a black and white simple to understand choice for users.

Really the application should be able to determine the appropriate transaction fee better than the user (don't forget many users will not even know what KB means). There is always the custom send form if you want to choose the fee manually.

Calculate it based on the total sum size of the transactions, not the number of them.

 

Makes sense. May be something along the lines of:

Allow Free = if (Target Number of Blocks To Confirm By * Average Block Size 24 Hours) > (Total Unconfirmed Tx Size With Higher Priority Than My Transaction)