BTC transfer are too damn slow!

[Gazza1]

Time for a FIX.

[vpitcher07]

Are you kidding? A transfer takes less than a second...

[BitcoinBobbeh]

Are you kidding? A transfer takes less than a second...

I'm gonna need about 10 minutes to confirm your post.

...And give me 0.0001 BTC, too.

[vpitcher07]

Are you kidding? A transfer takes less than a second...

I'm gonna need about 10 minutes to confirm your post.

...And give me 0.0001 BTC, too.

He said transfers not confirmations. There's a huge difference....

[franky1]

posting a cheque my mail - maybe next day to deliver - 3-5 business days to clear
wire transfer - 3-5 days in america
cash - instant, although ATM's have daily limits for larger amount

bitcoin - receive instantly - clears in 10 minutes if you pay a greedy mining pool

the fix for bitcoin if you are talking about greedy mining pools delaying confirmations is to stop them taxing bitcoins with 5c fee's that not many people want to pay. if it were 0.5c maximum, people would pay.

i hope not to see a reply that fe's prevent spam. as that idea is stupid. blocks are only 10% filled on average. and bitcoin can code different rules such as a 3 confirm requirement between spends. this would make it so spammers cant fill up every block.. just every third block.

after all we are suppose to be allowing microtransactions, not preventing them. so that news media subscriptions, vending machines and small priced products can be bought, advertising commissions can be transferred instantly in small amounts instead of accumulated to send in batches. all without a 5c fee being added.

[Dogtanian]

posting a cheque my mail - maybe next day to deliver - 3-5 business days to clear
wire transfer - 3-5 days in america
cash - instant, although ATM's have daily limits for larger amount

bitcoin - receive instantly - clears in 10 minutes if you pay a greedy mining pool

the fix for bitcoin if you are talking about greedy mining pools delaying confirmations is to stop them taxing bitcoins with 5c fee's that not many people want to pay. if it were 0.5c maximum, people would pay.

i hope not to see a reply that fe's prevent spam. as that idea is stupid. blocks are only 10% filled on average. and bitcoin can code different rules such as a 3 confirm requirement between spends. this would make it so spammers cant fill up every block.. just every third block.

after all we are suppose to be allowing microtransactions, not preventing them. so that news media subscriptions, vending machines and small priced products can be bought, advertising commissions can be transferred instantly in small amounts instead of accumulated to send in batches. all without a 5c fee being added.

I've never had a transaction confirm in 10 minutes. What's the quickest time one will take to fully confirm?

[CoinDiver]

What's the quickest time one will take to fully confirm?

Define "fully confirm"...

Anyone who states bitcoin is too slow is either lying, or ignorant.

[Dogtanian]

What's the quickest time one will take to fully confirm?

Define "fully confirm"...

Anyone who states bitcoin is too slow is either lying, or ignorant.

You know, be able to spend the coins you receive.

[superresistant]

I wonder something...

How does mining difficulty affect transaction speed ?

[DannyHamilton]

What's the quickest time one will take to fully confirm?

Define "fully confirm"...

Anyone who states bitcoin is too slow is either lying, or ignorant.

You know, be able to spend the coins you receive.

I've spent coins within 1 second of receiving them where the transaction that I received them in had 0 confirmations.  Due to the transaction malleability issue, this won't always work, but it typically does.

Once a transaction has a single confirmation, it can be reliably spent 99+% of the time.

If you are unable to do so, then that is a limitation that the wallet you've chosen to use is placing on you.  It is not a limitation of the bitcoin protocol.

(Note, there is an exception for newly mined bitcoins.  Those are required by the protocol to have 100 confirmations before you can spend them)

[DannyHamilton]

I wonder something...

How does mining difficulty affect transaction speed ?

Mining difficulty adjusts automatically every 2016 blocks to try to keep the confirmation speed close to 10 minutes per additional confirmation after the first confirmation.

The difficulty has no direct effect on transaction speed.  Transaction speed directly depends entirely on how well connected your wallet (and your recipient's wallet) is to the rest of the network, what the internet bandwidth is of the peers, and whether your transaction has extremely small outputs.

[GenTarkin]

Technically a fully confirmed transaction has 6 confirmations ...

Up to 6 confirmations there are several documented attack vectors that can be used against it....

It just hasnt happened because the cost of doing so, is astronomically high.

Much like anything in computer security, it all can be hacked, but time & cost make many attacks not worth it.

[GenTarkin]

I wonder something...

How does mining difficulty affect transaction speed ?

Mining difficulty adjusts automatically every 2016 blocks to try to keep the confirmation speed close to 10 minutes per additional confirmation after the first confirmation.

The difficulty has no direct effect on transaction speed.  Transaction speed directly depends entirely on how well connected your wallet (and your recipient's wallet) is to the rest of the network, what the internet bandwidth is of the peers, and whether your transaction has extremely small outputs.

Yeah, transaction broadcast speed is quite amazing actually.

[DannyHamilton]

Technically a fully confirmed transaction has 6 confirmations ...

Technically, there is no such thing as "fully confirmed".  6 confirmations is a "rule of thumb", than many wallets have chosen to implement.  There are other wallets that require other numbers of confirmations.  There is nothing about 6 confirmations that makes it more special than 5 confirmations or 7 confirmations.

Up to 6 confirmations there are several documented attack vectors that can be used against it....

Any attack vector that works against 5 confirmations, also works against 6 confirmations (it just costs more and requires more hardware).

It just hasnt happened because the cost of doing so, is astronomically high.

Much like anything in computer security, it all can be hacked, but time & cost make many attacks not worth it.

So, then, what does "fully confirmed" mean?

[Dogtanian]

What's the quickest time one will take to fully confirm?

Define "fully confirm"...

Anyone who states bitcoin is too slow is either lying, or ignorant.

You know, be able to spend the coins you receive.

I've spent coins within 1 second of receiving them where the transaction that I received them in had 0 confirmations.  Due to the transaction malleability issue, this won't always work, but it typically does.

Once a transaction has a single confirmation, it can be reliably spent 99+% of the time.

If you are unable to do so, then that is a limitation that the wallet you've chosen to use is placing on you.  It is not a limitation of the bitcoin protocol.

(Note, there is an exception for newly mined bitcoins.  Those are required by the protocol to have 100 confirmations before you can spend them)

Interesting. I'll try it next time. I thought coins had to be full confirmed before they could be spent.

[BitcoinBobbeh]

Are you kidding? A transfer takes less than a second...

I'm gonna need about 10 minutes to confirm your post.

...And give me 0.0001 BTC, too.

He said transfers not confirmations. There's a huge difference....

If you can name a place that gives you goods and services before your payment is confirmed, please let me know so I can begin scamming them for being dumb.

[superresistant]

I also wonder, how does the priority system work ?

I know that it is related to the localisation. What about the amount of fees ?

Would it be possible to specialize miners or a pool to confirm specific transactions in priority ?

[Gazza1]

10 minute per confirm is too long when exchanges require 3-6+

It has nothing to do with patience, but everything to do with time is money.

[Dogtanian]

10 minute per confirm is too long when exchanges require 3-6+

It has nothing to do with patience, but everything to do with time is money.

That's the exchanges fault for making them rules.

[DannyHamilton]

Interesting. I'll try it next time. I thought coins had to be full confirmed before they could be spent.

The number of confirmations required depends on the wallet you are using.

Some wallets require 1 confirmation.  Some wallets require 3 confirmations. Some wallets require 6 confirmations.

The phrase "full confirmed" is a "rule of thumb" for people who don't understand the protocol.  To protect them from their lack of knowledge, the creators of early wallets built in a concept of a transaction not being displayed as "completely confirmed" until it has 6 confirmations.  This is a user interface implementation and not a rule of the protocol.

Creators of later wallets reduced the number of confirmations they required.