41 hours to get into blockchain!

[Geremia]

Why did it take this transaction 41 hours to get into the blockchain? How is that possible?

It was received on 2013-11-18 23:31:24 and only got into block # 270639 (2013-11-20 16:02:07 +2,431 minutes)!

It thus instantly jumped from 0 confirmations to 13+ confirmations now.

Is this because the volume of BTC transactions has skyrocketed recently, and blocks have a transaction number limit, don't they?

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

Why did it take this transaction 41 hours to get into the blockchain? How is that possible?

It was received on 2013-11-18 23:31:24 and only got into block # 270639 (2013-11-20 16:02:07 +2,431 minutes)!

It thus instantly jumped from 0 confirmations to 13+ confirmations now.

Is this because the volume of BTC transactions has skyrocketed recently, and blocks have a transaction number limit, don't they?

Because you didn't pay a fee. Or basically, you were cheap, that's why.

[Geremia]

Because you didn't pay a fee. Or basically, you were cheap, that's why.

Does Bitcoin allow retracting transactions from the network before someone places them in the blockchain?

[grue]

Because you didn't pay a fee. Or basically, you were cheap, that's why.

Does Bitcoin allow retracting transactions from the network before someone places them in the blockchain?

other than nodes "forgetting" transactions when they restart, no.

[Geremia]

Is there a general rule for how much I should make my transaction fees to ensure speedy insertion in blockchain and thus speedy confirmation?

[DeathAndTaxes]

Is there a general rule for how much I should make my transaction fees to ensure speedy insertion in blockchain and thus speedy confirmation?

the min fee for low priority tx is a good place to start.  That is 0.1 mBTC per kB.

[Light]

the min fee for low priority tx is a good place to start.  That is 0.1 mBTC per kB.

You can also choose to have a larger transaction fee if you want your transaction to go through faster. Honestly, if I were you though I would avoid not paying tx fees.

[Geremia]

the min fee for low priority tx is a good place to start.  That is 0.1 mBTC per kB.

You can also choose to have a larger transaction fee if you want your transaction to go through faster. Honestly, if I were you though I would avoid not paying tx fees.

Well, I upgraded to bitcoin-qt v0.8.5, and for some reason they dropped the default transaction fee (cf. this thread).

[BitCloud]

I did a transaction 1/8th your size without fees and got confirmed a little reluctantly after 2h or so