Turnaround time

[willz123]

Hi everyone

I just wondered what the minimum amount of time (or confirmations) you would need to wait after receiving coins before you can send them again?

Many Thanks

[mjc]

Depends on the software.

Blockchains.info online wallet seems to allow a spent before 1 confirmation.  Some sites only wait for 1 confirmation and others 6 confirmations.  I find that it takes about 10 minutes per confirmation. 

Its best to wait for at least one confirmation.

[Killer19]

1 or 6. Eligius used to take 24 hours, it was ridiculous.

[RodeoX]

For your own personal policy you may want to consider the nature of the transaction, the amount, and the trustworthiness of the trade partner.  For example, If I were selling sodas for BTC I would not even wait for one confirmation. But if I were buying an airplane I would not sign the contract until I see 6 confirmations.

[Foxpup]

The standard client requires 1 confirmation, except for change, which can be spent with 0 confirmations (since change is sent from yourself, to yourself, and thus guaranteed to be legitimate). There is a (moderately expensive) attack against 1-confirmation transactions, though you needn't worry about it unless you're dealing with a relatively large amount of money (and then you just wait for 2 or 3 confirmations). Waiting for 6 confirmations as suggested by others is almost certainly overkill, and there's nothing special about that particular number that makes it "safe" (Why 6? Why is 5 not enough? Why not be extra safe and wait for 7?).

1 or 6. Eligius used to take 24 hours, it was ridiculous.

Eligius (and p2pool) don't actually "send" you coins, instead you get your coins direct from the block reward, which takes 120 confirmations (about 20 hours) to "mature", in case of a blockchain split (which would render the block reward invalid along with all transaction spending it).

[Stephen Gornick]

Its best to wait for at least one confirmation.

Especially because the transaction you received itself might not be confirmed.  This can cause a problem if you pay someone else and then you find out that the transaction to you was a double spend after you've already paid.

Or if you are sending the funds to something like SatoshiDICE -- you might think you won, but until the transaction confirms your payouts won't confirm either.