Topic: (Solved) Is there any delay when transfering bitcoins? - page 2. (Read 1596 times)
Scott, Meni, Moonshadow, Death&taxes and Johnthedong THANK YOU!
It depends on how much you trust him.
Transfers are nearly instantaneous. To see it in your wallet it should be up to date but you can see it on 3rd party sites like blockchain.info even if your wallet is behind.
0-confirms could be double spent (reversed) but honestly it is very very very very unlikely. More likely that afterwards a bear will jump out from behind a tree and beat you with a wrench until you give him access to your private key. Always watch for bears.
If you wait ~10 minutes (although it can vary) it will be 1-confirm. A double spend here would be even less likely as your friend would need a massive amount of hashing power.
6-confirms takes ~60 minutes and at this point the only way you could be defrauded is if your friend can 51% attack the network.
TL/DR version:
for casual small face to face purchases with someone you know (and can beat up) 0-confirms should be nearly instantaneous and is "good enough" security.
+1.Transfers are nearly instantaneous. To see it in your wallet it should be up to date but you can see it on 3rd party sites like blockchain.info even if your wallet is behind.
0-confirms could be double spent (reversed) but honestly it is very very very very unlikely. More likely that afterwards a bear will jump out from behind a tree and beat you with a wrench until you give him access to your private key. Always watch for bears.
If you wait ~10 minutes (although it can vary) it will be 1-confirm. A double spend here would be even less likely as your friend would need a massive amount of hashing power.
6-confirms takes ~60 minutes and at this point the only way you could be defrauded is if your friend can 51% attack the network.
TL/DR version:
for casual small face to face purchases with someone you know (and can beat up) 0-confirms should be nearly instantaneous and is "good enough" security.
0-confirm will do unless you're dealing with tons of coins and a mastermind.
It depends on how much you trust him. Transfers are nearly instantaneous. The only way you won't see it in a few seconds is if your wallet isn't up to date. If you wallet currently has a 0 BTC balance use the faucet and get a tiny amount of coins for free to verify your wallet is working and is up to date.
Although Bitcoin is nearly instantaneous the level of security depends on the # of confirmations.
0-confirms:
It "could" be double spent (reversed) but honestly it is very very very very unlikely. It is slightly more likely that afterwards a bear will jump out from behind a tree and beat you with a wrench until you give him access to your private key. Bears eat bitcoins and they understand cryptography. Always watch for bears.
1-confirm:
If you wait ~10 minutes (although it can vary) the tx will be hashed into the next block and your wallet (technically client) will show 1-confirm. A double spend here would be even more difficult as your friend would need a massive amount of hashing power to create an alternate chain and extend it past the legit chain. Even with 10% of the network his chances are very remote.
6-confirms:
It takes ~60 minutes and at this point the only realistic way you could be defrauded is if your friend can 51% attack the network. If your friend can do that well we all have problems but I doubt someone with a ~$20M hashing farm is going to try and scam you out of a couple dollars.
TL/DR version:
For casual small face to face purchases with someone you know (or can beat up) 0-confirms should be nearly instantaneous and is "good enough" security. One thing you should never do is trust someone else client, browser, etc. Very easy to fake a transaction that way. Only trust your hardware, internet, client.
Although Bitcoin is nearly instantaneous the level of security depends on the # of confirmations.
0-confirms:
It "could" be double spent (reversed) but honestly it is very very very very unlikely. It is slightly more likely that afterwards a bear will jump out from behind a tree and beat you with a wrench until you give him access to your private key. Bears eat bitcoins and they understand cryptography. Always watch for bears.
1-confirm:
If you wait ~10 minutes (although it can vary) the tx will be hashed into the next block and your wallet (technically client) will show 1-confirm. A double spend here would be even more difficult as your friend would need a massive amount of hashing power to create an alternate chain and extend it past the legit chain. Even with 10% of the network his chances are very remote.
6-confirms:
It takes ~60 minutes and at this point the only realistic way you could be defrauded is if your friend can 51% attack the network. If your friend can do that well we all have problems but I doubt someone with a ~$20M hashing farm is going to try and scam you out of a couple dollars.
TL/DR version:
For casual small face to face purchases with someone you know (or can beat up) 0-confirms should be nearly instantaneous and is "good enough" security. One thing you should never do is trust someone else client, browser, etc. Very easy to fake a transaction that way. Only trust your hardware, internet, client.
I'm planning to buy some bitcoins at my campus and pay in cash.
However, I don't want to give the money until I'm sure the bitcoins have been transferred to my wallet.
Is it an instantaneous operation? I mean, Will I see the bitcoins in my running client some seconds after the seller send me them? How long does it take?
Gracias por adelantado.
However, I don't want to give the money until I'm sure the bitcoins have been transferred to my wallet.
Is it an instantaneous operation? I mean, Will I see the bitcoins in my running client some seconds after the seller send me them? How long does it take?
Gracias por adelantado.
Your client should be able to see the transaction within a few seconds, assuming that it is a valid transaction, but it won't let you spend it until it's been included into a block and 'confirmed' several times. As the other responder said, he would have to be a master cracker to take it back before one confirmation and God after six confirmations.
For your purposes it is instant.
You will receive notification about the transfer within seconds. You will not be able to spend them right away, and if your counterparty is a criminal mastermind with custom software he has a tiny chance of reversing it if you don't wait for a block confirmation.
You will receive notification about the transfer within seconds. You will not be able to spend them right away, and if your counterparty is a criminal mastermind with custom software he has a tiny chance of reversing it if you don't wait for a block confirmation.
I'm planning to buy some bitcoins at my campus and pay in cash.
However, I don't want to give the money until I'm sure the bitcoins have been transferred to my wallet.
Is it an instantaneous operation? I mean, Will I see the bitcoins in my running client some seconds after the seller send me them? How long does it take?
Gracias por adelantado.
However, I don't want to give the money until I'm sure the bitcoins have been transferred to my wallet.
Is it an instantaneous operation? I mean, Will I see the bitcoins in my running client some seconds after the seller send me them? How long does it take?
Gracias por adelantado.
Jump to: