Why on earth would my payment get stuck? - and how I solved it

[niko83]

I relayed a transaction from my blockchain.info online wallet using the default fee rate. And guess what, it's been stuck for hours now. How could I avoid this next time and what can I do now? I have seen a few suggestions about increasing the transaction's priority but none of those seemed solid, correct me if I'm wrong. Any solid ideas please?

https://blockchain.info/tx/b6e7d902cebf7e58097e363c0d31ab766657e757813b28097549f195033ba744?show_adv=false

Blockchain.info should have known better.

[RocketSingh]

https://blockchain.info/tx/b6e7d902cebf7e58097e363c0d31ab766657e757813b28097549f195033ba744?show_adv=false

U paid 100.574 Satoshis/byte. As per https://btc.com/stats/unconfirmed-tx, current rate for confirmation within one block is 230+ Satoshis/byte.

My advice is use https://copay.io. If u r an advanced user, use https://coinb.in.

[Dart18]

Its just hours. Wait a bit more. There are those who are still waiting now for two weeks.

[DannyHamilton]

I relayed a transaction from my blockchain.info online wallet using the default fee rate. And guess what, it's been stuck for hours now. How could I avoid this next time

Stop using blockchain.info.

They tend to have a lot of issues.

Find a better wallet.  Choose any of the wallets found here:
https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

and what can I do now?

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

Blockchain.info should have known better.

They do know better.  Either they don't care, or they are incompetent.  Not sure which.

[niko83]

It has been a long time since I registered there. I guess it is time to switch to a more reliable wallet. Thanks for all the suggestions.

Well then, is it really possible to re-relay the transaction with a higher fee? Maybe I should try that?

[niko83]

Turns out one of those suggestions I read about was indeed solid advice. It exploits the child-pays-for-parent feature and is quite effective: Just re-spend one of the children with a higher fee. Remember though, that second fee will cover for both transactions so cough up the coins.

This feature could be used by both the sender (if the sending address has enough coins left in it to cover the fee) and the receiver. If it's stuck, just re-spend it lol.

[DannyHamilton]

Turns out one of those suggestions I read about was indeed solid advice. It exploits the child-pays-for-parent feature and is quite effective: Just re-spend one of the children with a higher fee. Remember though, that second fee will cover for both transactions so cough up the coins.

This feature could be used by both the sender (if the sending address has enough coins left in it to cover the fee) and the receiver. If it's stuck, just re-spend it lol.

Correct.  Unfortunately not all mining pools and miners have implemented CPFP when choosing which transactions to confirm, but at least those that do will consider your transaction so you increase your odds of confirmation a bit.

[niko83]

Turns out one of those suggestions I read about was indeed solid advice. It exploits the child-pays-for-parent feature and is quite effective: Just re-spend one of the children with a higher fee. Remember though, that second fee will cover for both transactions so cough up the coins.

This feature could be used by both the sender (if the sending address has enough coins left in it to cover the fee) and the receiver. If it's stuck, just re-spend it lol.

Correct.  Unfortunately not all mining pools and miners have implemented CPFP when choosing which transactions to confirm, but at least those that do will consider your transaction so you increase your odds of confirmation a bit.

ı
Well in my case it was instant magic. I have waited for more than a day almost a day. Then I tried this trick and voila! Right with the first block both transactions were confirmed. I used an exceptional fee, I suppose that helped a bit.  

[DannyHamilton]

- snip -
I used an exceptional fee, I suppose that helped a bit. 

That and a little bit of luck that the next block was solved by a pool that implemented CPFP

[niko83]

- snip -
I used an exceptional fee, I suppose that helped a bit.  

That and a little bit of luck that the next block was solved by a pool that implemented CPFP

But that also means that as long as there is at least one big pool that implements it, everybody is covered.   I supposed it was in Bitcoin core.

Edit: Wait a second! Does this mean that the second transaction could independently get confirmed leaving the first transaction to dry? That would be very wrong.

[DannyHamilton]

But that also means that as long as there is at least one big pool that implements it, everybody is covered.

Yes.  It just might take a while depending on how big the pool is and how lucky they are.

Edit: Wait a second! Does this mean that the second transaction could independently get confirmed leaving the first transaction to dry? That would be very wrong.

Nope.

A transaction cannot confirm unless all of its inputs are confirmed.  If a pool hasn't implemented CPFP, then they don't see the first transaction as paying a high enough fee (so they don't confirm it), and they don't see the second transaction as valid yet (so they don't confirm it either).

There is a financial incentive for pools to implement CPFP.

If they don't then they miss out on all those high fees that people pay trying to get a low fee transaction confirmed by spending it's child.

Meanwhile those pools that have implemented CPFP might have to confirm a low fee transaction, but they get to confirm a much higher fee transaction in the same block which more than makes up for the additional bytes with more revenue.

[niko83]

But that also means that as long as there is at least one big pool that implements it, everybody is covered.

Yes.  It just might take a while depending on how big the pool is and how lucky they are.

Edit: Wait a second! Does this mean that the second transaction could independently get confirmed leaving the first transaction to dry? That would be very wrong.

Nope.

A transaction cannot confirm unless all of its inputs are confirmed.  If a pool hasn't implemented CPFP, then they don't see the first transaction as paying a high enough fee (so they don't confirm it), and they don't see the second transaction as valid yet (so they don't confirm it either).

There is a financial incentive for pools to implement CPFP.

If they don't then they miss out on all those high fees that people pay trying to get a low fee transaction confirmed by spending it's child.

Meanwhile those pools that have implemented CPFP might have to confirm a low fee transaction, but they get to confirm a much higher fee transaction in the same block which more than makes up for the additional bytes with more revenue.

Well, of course... that was a nice explanation. The second transaction could exist only if the first one is accepted.

[BigBall]

My transatcion is always done in less than 1 hour so you better shoud try other bitcoin wallets which make your transactions completed more faster than in blockchain wallet.

[niko83]

My transatcion is always done in less than 1 hour so you better shoud try other bitcoin wallets which make your transactions completed more faster than in blockchain wallet.

I use Keepass to store pretty much everything, so logging in to my old blockchain wallet to quickly take care of things seemed like a fast and easy way at the time. I will consider alternatives. Actually, if I had paid attention I could have adjusted the fee to make things smoother but... I guess I shouldn't be required to be so vigilant all the time.