Accidently sent 2btc without a transaction fee

[mrflibblehat]

Hi,

I just accidently sent 2btc without a transaction fee (usually it asks if I want to send one but it didn't) What will happen to these bitcoins, will they eventually get confirmed... any guesstimate on how long?

Blockchain.info says

Estimated Confirmation Time   Within 6 Blocks (Medium Priority)

Thanks for any help (hope I havnt lost this )

[MUFC]

Don't worry they wont be lost. At the worst they'd get sent back to you but I'm sure they will confirm fine eventually.

[mrflibblehat]

Don't worry they wont be lost. At the worst they'd get sent back to you but I'm sure they will confirm fine eventually.

Thanks for your reassurance, i was having heart palpitations lol

[DannyHamilton]

Hi,

I just accidently sent 2btc without a transaction fee (usually it asks if I want to send one but it didn't)

You should change the settings in your wallet if you want to make sure that you always include a fee.

What will happen to these bitcoins,

It depends on the specifics of the transaction, but they will most likely be confirmed eventually.

will they eventually get confirmed...

It's impossible to know for certain from the information you've shared so far, but the transaction probably will eventually get confirmed.

any guesstimate on how long?

No way to know accurately, but as a "guesstimate" I'd say somewhere between the next block and the next 576 blocks.

Thanks for any help (hope I havnt lost this )

If the transaction doesn't get confirmed, then you can most likely re-send it later with a transaction fee.  The typical transactions don't "lose" bitcoins, they either get confirmed (in which case the bitcoins are under the control of the address they are sent to) or they don't get confirmed (in which case it is possible, with some help, to rebroadcast the transaction with a fee).

[DannyHamilton]

Don't worry they wont be lost. At the worst they'd get sent back to you but I'm sure they will confirm fine eventually.

Actually, at the worst, the transaction will remain unconfirmed forever.  The bitcoin protocol doesn't send bitcoins from unconfirmed transactions "back to you".  Instead it becomes necessary to force the wallet to stop broadcasting the transaction.  Some wallets make this easier than others.

[CIYAM]

Actually, at the worst, the transaction will remain unconfirmed forever.  The bitcoin protocol doesn't send bitcoins from unconfirmed transactions "back to you".  Instead it becomes necessary to force the wallet to stop broadcasting the transaction.  Some wallets make this easier than others.

You have been saying that a bit lately Danny but I haven't actually heard of anyone losing such an amount in this manner (and you know full well that blockchain.info will stop broadcasting the tx).

Are there really cases of people who have *lost 2+ BTC* due to not paying a fee (please give links)?

[DannyHamilton]

You have been saying that a bit lately Danny but I haven't actually heard of anyone losing such an amount in this manner

I've heard of transactions that were unconfirmed for more than a month.  Certainly nobody has ever heard of a transaction that "never" confirmed, since you'd have to wait for all of time before you know if it will eventually confirm or not.

Perhaps you also noticed that I stated:

"they will most likely be confirmed eventually" AND "the transaction probably will eventually get confirmed".  The point is that, depending on the specifics of the transaction and what decisions miners and mining pools make in the near future, it is possible that the transaction will never confirm.  There is no requirement in the protocol for a miner to confirm the transaction, and there is no incentive in the transaction for a miner to confirm it.  You are basically waiting on some charitable miner to confirm it for you out of the goodness of their heart.

(and you know full well that blockchain.info will stop broadcasting the tx).

And I also know full well that the recipient of the transaction (or anyone else on the network that saw the transaction) can re-broadcast it themselves fi they want.  I also know full well that the Bitcoin Core wallet will rebroadcast the transaction forever unless you take steps to interfere with that process.

Are there really cases of people who have *lost 2+ BTC* due to not paying a fee (please give links)?

Lost?

I never said anything about losing bitcoins.  As a matter of fact, I specifically said: "The typical transactions don't "lose" bitcoins".

I've seen at least a half dozen transactions that never confirmed and that required the sender to take measures to create a raw transaction and broadcast it to eliminate the original transaction.  Here's a link to one such case:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=147519.0

Each case is unique.  With some searching and effort a scenario more similar to this one could be found.  Not going to waste an hour trying to find a set of search terms that will turn up the results you want to see.

[ticoti]

they will take some time to get confirmed but they will finally arrive
don't worry

[CIYAM]

I never said anything about losing bitcoins.  As a matter of fact, I specifically said: "The typical transactions don't "lose" bitcoins".

This is not the *tone* that I picked up but hopefully the OP did (maybe just the way I am reading the posts).

I would say to the OP *don't worry, just wait and it'll be fine* and I am pretty sure that will be the case (as it has been with the other such topics).

[DannyHamilton]

I never said anything about losing bitcoins.  As a matter of fact, I specifically said: "The typical transactions don't "lose" bitcoins".

This is not the *tone* that I picked up but hopefully the OP did (maybe just the way I am reading the posts).

I would say to the OP *don't worry, just wait and it'll be fine* and I am pretty sure that will be the case (as it has been with the other such topics).

You're looking at two different posts that respond to two different people.

Take a look again.

My post to the OP says three times that the transaction will most likely confirm in the near future, and that transactions don't "lose" bitcoins:

- snip -
they will most likely be confirmed eventually.
- snip -
the transaction probably will eventually get confirmed.
- snip -
No way to know accurately, but as a "guesstimate" I'd say somewhere between the next block and the next 576 blocks.
- snip -
The typical transactions don't "lose" bitcoins, they either get confirmed (in which case the bitcoins are under the control of the address they are sent to) or they don't get confirmed (in which case it is possible, with some help, to rebroadcast the transaction with a fee).

The post you are complaining about was directed specifically to MUFC who had stated:

- snip -
At the worst they'd get sent back to you but I'm sure they will confirm fine eventually.

MUFC sent this comment with know way of knowing what wallet the OP was using, and with no knowledge of the details of the transaction.  He made a claim about what the WORST that could happen would be.  I corrected him by pointing out that bitcoins don't get "sent back to you" (this is the "technical support" sub-forum, right?).  And that it can become necessary to stop the wallet from re-broadcasting the transaction.

blockchain.info makes it very easy to get the wallet to stop broadcasting the transaction, all you have to do is wait 4 or 5 days.

Bitcoin Core on the other hand makes it quite difficult to stop re-broadcasting the transaction.

[CIYAM]

You're looking at two different posts that respond to two different people.

Okay - makes more sense - just making sure the OP understands this also.

And agreed Bitcoin should make it simpler to solve the re-broadcasting issue (rather than having to resort to pywallet as I've had to do before).

[BitcoinBarrel]

This has happened to me a few times and only ONCE did they never confirm and it did take months to get them back in my wallet after the update. Most of the time it will confirm in a few hours TOPS.

However, I sent 0.5 BTC to a paper wallet several months ago that showed up on blockchain.info before my computer shutdown. I checked back the next day and the paper wallet had 0 balance and the transaction was GONE from blockchain.info

BUT, my Bitcoin-QT still showed the unconfirmed transaction for MONTHS until eventually the new update came out and it was credited in my account. The transaction still shows in my wallet as "Conflicted". =/

They may have fixed this issue in the new Bitcoin-QT

[Coinhunter32]

You are having heart palpitations? Obviously, 1000$ is  big amount. Don't worry it will be confirmed soon. If anything goes wrong it will be refund but it won't go in waste.