Bitcoin and it's Relationship With Time

[Fragrance1122]

People talk about Bitcoin as digital money, gold or asset but almost no body talk about that "Bitcoin created its own Clock"
Normal finance like banks , stock market , loans, payment and salaries runs on " human time" likewise Monday to Friday traditional working from 9-5, payment take 2-3 business days and if it's holiday you have to wait.

While the Bitcoin network creates one new block every 10 minutes 24/7 and 365 days a year. No weekends, no holidays and no manager needed. It seems like the heartbeat of global financial system now a days.

This actually means that instead of saying that your payment will arrive in 3 days, the people related to Bitcoin says " wait for six confirmations". So time is now measured in blocks not days.

The big idea and the conclusion is that human civilization ran on sun time , then clock time and then business hours. Bitcoin on the other hand introduced "block time", a financial system that doesn't care if you are asleep or if it's a festival Eid, Christmas or Diwali or if the banks are closed. so Bitcoin isn't just changing money but also changing how we measure time in finance.

Share your views.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

While the Bitcoin network creates one new block every 10 minutes 24/7 and 365 days a year. No weekends, no holidays and no manager needed. It seems like the heartbeat of global financial system now a days.

Bitcoin was created for total freedom, without depending on a third party to use your money, you are totally in charge of how you transact and when you do so, the only exception to this rule are those who still use custodial services, since access to their coins can be blocked by exchanges for one reason or the other.

This actually means that instead of saying that your payment will arrive in 3 days, the people related to Bitcoin says " wait for six confirmations". So time is now measured in blocks not days.

One conformation is enough for your funds to arrive at the receiving address, more confirmations only makes the transaction more secure.

The concept of more confirmations is to add newer blocks to the blockchain after the block that included your transaction, this makes the transaction harder to reverse.

[Marvelockg]

This actually means that instead of saying that your payment will arrive in 3 days, the people related to Bitcoin says " wait for six confirmations". So time is now measured in blocks not days.

Does an average user bother about confirmation or what not, once they carry out any form of transaction, what they are looking out for is how soon the transaction will be completed and not necessarily how long it takes for six confirmation and all. The reason why we still believe that bitcoin has not gotten to the stage where it can be used for daily transaction is because to an extent, the time it takes for one complete transaction is relatively too long. users in this digital age are more after how fast there transaction can be processed. most of them are not after the mechanics behind it processing.

[EarnOnVictor]

" human time" likewise Monday to Friday traditional working from 9-5, payment take 2-3 business days and if it's holiday you have to wait.
While the Bitcoin network creates one new block every 10 minutes 24/7 and 365 days a year. No weekends, no holidays and no manager needed. It seems like the heartbeat of global financial system now a days.

Although you exaggerated things here, it still carries a high level of truth. What you described can be applicable to wire transfer only, as I don't know other means of payment that would take 2-3 business days to clear. And even with Bitcoin, you need human authorisation in many transactions, if they are not automatic. So, if it's a holiday time, the receivers would have to wait as well.

However, where I enjoy Bitcoin the most is in cross-border payment. If I calculated the amount it had saved me in about 10 years in transaction fees, it should be climbing $10,000 now, if not more. Is it the speed and the ability to monitor your transaction progress yourself? Those are incompatible.

[Catenaccio]

While the Bitcoin network creates one new block every 10 minutes 24/7 and 365 days a year. No weekends, no holidays and no manager needed. It seems like the heartbeat of global financial system now a days.

Ten minutes is only the average time of Bitcoin blocks but not all two consecutive blocks have 10 minutes between each other. There are blocks that can be found after several seconds after a previous block, and there are blocks that need more than 10 minutes, even 15, 20 minutes to be found by miners.
https://bitinfocharts.com/comparison/bitcoin-confirmationtime.html#alltime

Even the Bitcoin block halvings, people say it happens every four years but it's only a rough time while the exact information is every 210,000 blocks there will be a next Bitcoin halving.

Bitcoin supply vs time is presented in this chart.

If you need more details, read in How is the 21 million bitcoin cap defined and enforced?

[PostQuantumBTC]

There are fiat payments that can show almost immediately within seconds. Examples are the transactions made through the fiat credit card like MasterCard and Visa card. You are referring to wire transfer.

People talk about Bitcoin as digital money, gold or asset but almost no body talk about that "Bitcoin created its own Clock"
Normal finance like banks , stock market , loans, payment and salaries runs on " human time" likewise Monday to Friday traditional working from 9-5, payment take 2-3 business days and if it's holiday you have to wait.

In some countries, the working time or hours is 8 am to 4 pm. I know this is not part of the discussion but I think it will be good if you know that.

For bitcoin confirmation acceptance, I prefer just one block for people that are close to me and 3 confirmation for businesses.

[TheUltraElite]

Maybe in future we will see new methods of time measurement. For now we have the use of bitcoin limited to spending and investing if not anything more than that.

I rarely think about confirmations now a days because I am mostly sending money to merchants for spending purpose and rarely using bitcoin to send anybody money. I know the second one should also be common but its not so in reality.

I myself cant remember when I last time checked for 6 confirmations. Mostly I start using the coins after it has landed on the website page where I am going to spend it.

[Donneski]

Bitcoin in reality did not create a new way to measure time, it simply removed the limits of traditional financial clock. Because the network keeps producing blocks 24/7, transactions can be performed at any time, not the ones that was tied to banking hours, weekends or holidays. While we still use normal time, Bitcoin provides us with the freedom to transact whenever and wherever we want, it is that difference that makes it look like Bitcoin has to its own rhythm.

[hugeblack]

Waiting to get 6 blocks may not seem good for someone who wants to buy daily products or just a cup of coffee compared to someone who wants to buy a car, request a loan/salary, or transfer money to one of his friends in another country.
Therefore, at the level of international transactions, especially those between countries that are not united by agreements, waiting for 6 blocks is a technical revolution.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

Waiting to get 6 blocks may not seem good for someone who wants to buy daily products or just a cup of coffee compared to someone who wants to buy a car, request a loan/salary, or transfer money to one of his friends in another country.
Therefore, at the level of international transactions, especially those between countries that are not united by agreements, waiting for 6 blocks is a technical revolution.

With small transactions, people want something fast and cheap so Lightning Network can be their more favorite choice than Bitcoin on chain transactions. They surely will not want to wait for 6 confirmations that take about 1 hour even longer to buy a cup of coffee.

6 confirmations are only for very big transaction in its value, and mostly people as well as exchanges only need 1 to 3 confirmations.
How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough?

What's the rule of thumb for an acceptable number of confirmations?

1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.

3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.

6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.

10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.

[Zaguru12]

Does an average user bother about confirmation or what not, once they carry out any form of transaction, what they are looking out for is how soon the transaction will be completed and not necessarily how long it takes for six confirmation and all. The reason why we still believe that bitcoin has not gotten to the stage where it can be used for daily transaction is because to an extent, the time it takes for one complete transaction is relatively too long. users in this digital age are more after how fast there transaction can be processed. most of them are not after the mechanics behind it processing.

You have to read and understand better what OP is actually looking into, bitcoin transactions are measured with the number of confirmation which is same thing as number of blocks mined on top the block which has that transaction. This is because the more number of blocks, the longer the chain or proof of work and the harder it gets to actually have it dropped probably because of chain reorg.

This is needed during payment because if you just accept transactions with just one confirmation there is a possibility of a chain reorg happening and if the transaction is dropped the sender can still be able to replace such transaction (RBF).

OP is right, in bitcoin the measurements of time is in block’s confirmation because most of these blocks are not confirmed in same time, even though the average time is actually 10 minutes, the block can be confirmed either faster or later depending on fast the miners work the proof of work

[As-Soon-As]

The big idea and the conclusion is that human civilization ran on sun time , then clock time and then business hours. Bitcoin on the other hand introduced "block time", a financial system that doesn't care if you are asleep or if it's a festival Eid, Christmas or Diwali or if the banks are closed. so Bitcoin isn't just changing money but also changing how we measure time in finance.
Share your views.

Waiting for six confirmations in Bitcoin for a simple transaction is very difficult, but for international transactions, Bitcoin is quite suitable and it seems reasonable to be patient, even if it takes some time.
But for quick transactions, waiting for six confirmations in Bitcoin is not possible for me, but if you buy a car, buy a house, send money to a friend, and Bitcoin plays a significant role in international transactions, it is quite suitable.