Withdrawal Confirmation and Speed

[JailHouse]

A bit of confusion on withdrawal 'network confirmations' and speed.

When you make a withdrawal from a particular exchange, do the number of confirmations depend on:

a) the exchange itself from where you are withdrawing?
b) on the coin you are withdrawing?
c) the time of day you are withdrawing?
d) the destination?
e) all of these?

Are the number of these confirmations always the same or can they vary depending on some factors?
If so, what factors do they depend on?

Am I right to assume that the larger the number of confirmations, the longer it will take to reach its destination, and, it will cost more?

Is there something that I can do to ensure I always get the lowest rate possible, or is it always going to be the same?

From FTX's website, they wrote this:

Deposit Speed
Blockchain confirmation(s):

Token   Confirmation(s) Required
BTC           2
LTC           2
BCH           2
ETH          10
USDT (ERC20)       10
XRP            1
EOS            1
BNB            1


I know this says Deposit, but do these apply to withdrawals as well?
Can these Blockchain confirmations vary at different times?

I'm trying to wrap my head around all these questions and I'd really appreciate the help,

Thanks,

JH

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[hosseinimr93]

I start the answer to your question with bitcoin.
Once a transaction is confirmed (I mean it gets 1 confirmation), it's almost secure and it's very unlikely that someone can change it. But that's not 100% secure.
It's possible that your transaction never receive next confirmations. Because, there is no guarantee that next block will be added to the chain including your transaction. Your transaction is also vulnerable to a 51% attack.
More confirmations your transaction receives, more secure it becomes.

Every coin has a different total hash power and the cost to implement a 51% attack is different for each of them. That's why exchanges wait for different number of confirmations.
Also, some coins like BNB use the POS system and that's probably why FTX is accepting BNB transactions with a single confirmation.
Note that there is no exact number as number of required confirmations and that depends on risk acceptance of the exchange.

a) the exchange itself from where you are withdrawing?

No, it doesn't depend on where you have sent the coins from. Usually, there is no way to know where the fund has been sent from at all.

b) on the coin you are withdrawing?

You probably mean deposit. Yes.
As said, the cost for implementing a 51% attack for different coins are different.
For example, a bitcoin transaction with 1 confirmation is much more secure than a bitcoin cash transaction with 10 (or maybe even more) confirmations.

c) the time of day you are withdrawing?

Again, deposit not withdraw.
The cost of implementing a 51% attack may change over the time. But that's not significant and exchanges usually consider a fixed number of confirmations.  
So, the answer is NO.

d) the destination?

As said, it depends on risk acceptance of the recipient. Number of required confirmations may vary in different exchanges.
Note that if you send bitcoin to me and I trust you enough, I can even accept an unconfirmed transaction.

[logfiles]

When you make a withdrawal from a particular exchange, do the number of confirmations depend on:
a) the exchange itself from where you are withdrawing?
b) on the coin you are withdrawing?
c) the time of day you are withdrawing?
d) the destination?
e) all of these?

Assuming you are strictly talking of withdrawals from an exchange. All networks (coins) will require only one confirmation for your coin to arrive to your address.
Different coins have different average block confirmation speeds. For Bitcoin, it's ~10 minutes, for Ethereum it's ~15 seconds.

The speed with which your transaction get verified and broadcast into the network for withdrawal will entirely depend on the exchange.

Are the number of these confirmations always the same or can they vary depending on some factors?
If so, what factors do they depend on?

For withdrawals, you only need one confirmation. It doesn't matter

Am I right to assume that the larger the number of confirmations, the longer it will take to reach its destination, and, it will cost more?

Nope

[bitmover]

Am I right to assume that the larger the number of confirmations, the longer it will take to reach its destination, and, it will cost more?

Based on your questions, I can see you are confused about what a confirmation is.

A confirmation is just the number of blocks mined after your transaction was included.

So, the number of confirmation do not depend of the fee. So a 10 confirmation transaction does not cost more than a transaction with 1 confirmation.

When you set the fee, you are basically paying a value to get included in the next block. If the price is too low, you will have to wait.
As the block space is limited, miners will add more expensive fees first. But eventually even a low fee transaction gets included in a block, i.e. confirmed (in the bitcoin network)

Once the transaction is included in a block, it doesn't matter if it costed 0.0001 usd or 100 usd in fees, every following block will add one confirmation to that transaction.

I know this says Deposit, but do these apply to withdrawals as well?
Can these Blockchain confirmations vary at different times?

I'm trying to wrap my head around all these questions and I'd really appreciate the help,

No, it makes no different for withdrawal.

When you see one confirmation, you will see your coin in your wallet and you are fine to spend it as you wish.

Exchanges demand more than 1 confirmation because they are afraid someone might attack the network , reversing a transaction. This is 51% attack, highly unlikely to bitcoin but possible in other blockchains.

[BitMaxz]

All exchanges have different required deposit confirmations and the transaction speed depends on how much fee you pay and the network condition.

Like you said above FTX deposit required for BTC is 2 confirmations before it is credited to your account and I think you are confused about the transaction speed.

Withdrawal is different from the deposit if you are withdrawing from exchanges and sending them to another exchange it depends on that exchange how much confirmation they needed before it is credited to your account. Or if you are sending it to your wallet it still required confirmation before you can able to spend it.

Since you talk about the transaction speed you will need to check https://mempool.space/ for a recommended fee and it includes time estimation to be confirmed but usually, exchanges do not have options to change transaction fee they have their own default withdrawal fee so you won't be able to speed up the transaction. Like on Binance the withdrawal fee for BTC is 0.0005BTC which is pretty high and this transaction is most likely fast.

FTX has a free withdrawal fee but it's limited to 0.01BTC 1 time daily I don't know how much the transaction fee they pay.
Do you have stuck transaction from FTX withdrawal?

[pooya87]

Every coin has a different total hash power and the cost to implement a 51% attack is different for each of them. That's why exchanges wait for different number of confirmations.

This is just one of the reasons but the main reason for requiring more number of transactions is the orphan rate. In an altcoin with faster blocks multiple miners could find the same block and the network can split into two very easily so the block containing your transaction can lose multiple of its parents and suddenly become an orphan (your tx becomes unconfirmed and easy to double spend).

For bitcoin it could happen to 1 block although very rare so the number is usually 2 or 3 but for altcoins with fast blocks it keeps going up and can reach hundreds. The cost of 51% is also a determining factor here, as you said.

The reason why they accept some shitcoins with 1 confirmation is because of lack of understanding of that exchange platform and they have to lose money to change that (it has happened multiple times in the past with exchanges like c-cex, crytopia, poloniex, etc.) or they are dealing with a 100% centralized altcoin like BNB so they are dealing with a central authority that they can sue.