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Why haven't my transactions been confirmed, what can I do?
Why haven't my transactions been confirmed, what can I do?

Quickly and efficiently fix confirmed or unconfirmed cryptocurrency transactions

Daniele avatar
Written by Daniele
Updated over 2 years ago

On average, one confirmation will take about 10 minutes, however, some businesses may require many confirmations before they consider the money sent. This is done to prevent double-spending and other similar issues.

If several hours have passed without your cryptocurrency transaction being confirmed, just wait. If more than 72 hours have gone by without confirmation, use one of the following two methods:

  • Use the Replace by Fee (RBF Protocol)

  • Use the higher fee Double-Spend transaction

Replace by Fee (RBF Protocol)

Please note that not many wallets support the RBF Protocol. If you are not able to mark your transaction as "replaceable" when sending, your wallet doesn't support the RBF Protocol. If you are unable to use RBF, you still may be able to cancel the Bitcoin transaction by double-spending with a higher fee.

Double-Spend transaction

Simply make a new transaction equal to the amount of the original one and send it to yourself. Make sure the transaction fee on this is significantly higher than the original one you paid. If you don't follow this essential step the method is not going to work. You may need to use another wallet or specialized software that allows double-spending for the transaction to be broadcast to the network.

If everything goes well, miners will pick up the new transaction and your cryptocurrency will be back in your wallet. Most miners and wallets have safeguards against double-spending, which means that this method might now work.

Bonus method

Not many know there are ways to speed up bitcoin transactions. The so-called "Cryptocurrency accelerators" allow you to pay a fee and speed up an existing cryptocurrency transaction. There are many scammers and fake websites, Sellix does not endorse any of these services.

The only way to ensure a transaction is going to be confirmed in a timely manner is to pay the recommended transaction fees.

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