Why is my transaction not being confirmed and what should I do?
Here’s a guide to as many wallets as possible to figure out how to do RBF. This is adapted from my bitcointalk post: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1802212.0
A “stuck” transaction is one that remains unconfirmed for a period of time that is inconvenient for the recipient or sender. Aborted transactions can be annoying as they often mean the recipient thinks the sender hasn’t paid yet, or that the recipient needs the money as soon as possible.
Trading interruptions are usually caused by low trading commission rates. However, other factors may cause a transaction to be halted, such as a spend coming from an unconfirmed transaction, a transaction collecting dust, or a double spend occurring from another transaction. If a transaction has a double spend transaction and the double spend is confirmed, the transaction will never be confirmed and will therefore be “stalled” forever.
There are several options for identifying aborted transactions.
Both the recipient and sender of a transaction can:
- Wait for your transaction to be confirmed
- Wait until the network “forgets” the transaction.
- Ask the miner for confirmation.
If you are a transaction sender, you can also:
- Try alternative double spend deals with commissions
- If any changes result, you can try a Child-Pays-For-Parent transaction.
If you are the recipient of a transaction, you can also:
- Attempting child payment transactions for parents
Waiting for confirmation
If you can’t do any of the other options, or are too afraid to do so, you can wait and hope that the deal is finally confirmed. If you want the network to be constantly reminded of a transaction, you can rebroadcast the transaction periodically. Most wallets automatically rebroadcast, so you can rebroadcast simply by keeping your wallet open.
Waiting for the network to “forget” the transaction
If a transaction remains unconfirmed for too long, it may eventually be “forgotten” by most nodes on the Bitcoin network if no one rebroadcasts the transaction. This can be caused by a node restart, mempool expiration time, or mempool removal due to an increase in the minimum mempool fee. This process typically takes a few days (usually 3). Once a transaction is “forgotten,” you will not be able to see it in your wallet, nor will you be able to see it in most block explorers. After your transaction is “forgotten,” you can simply send your bitcoins again, but this will involve higher transaction fees. If you still see the transaction in your wallet but can’t find it in the block explorer, you’ll need to follow the instructions in the Replace with Fees section.
Some wallets continually rebroadcast transactions while the wallet is on, so you may need to use the instructions in the RBF section to remove transactions from the wallet or shut them down and leave them there for a few days.
Ask the miner for help
Some mining pools and miners offer services that allow transactions to be prioritized in the mempool so that they can be selected for inclusion in a block more quickly. One such service is https://pool.viabtc.com/tools/txaccelerator/. ViaBTC limits the accelerator to 100 transactions per hour and requires you to pay a fee of at least 10 satoshi/byte, so the accelerator may not necessarily work. Another service is https://pushtx.btc.com/#/. BTC.com does not require other payment methods to “accelerate” transactions.
Additionally, if you attempt an alternative transaction with a fee, both the original transaction and the RBF transaction will be considered a double spend. Miners are unlikely to assist in transactions marked as double spend.
Replace-By-Fee (RBF) Double Spend Transaction Attempt
What is an RBF transaction?
A fallback by commission transaction is one that is almost identical to a stuck transaction but pays a higher transaction fee. Since the original transaction likely does not use opt-in RBF, the RBF transaction we will create will be treated as a double spend and marked as such. The transaction uses Full-RBF, so it’s technically a double spend, so it may take slightly longer to confirm.
Differences between RBF transaction types
There are three types of fee-based alternative transactions: First-Seen-Safe (FSS) RBF, Full RBF, and Opt-in RBF. FSS RBF requires that RBF transactions contain the same outputs and consume the same inputs as the transaction they replace. Full RBF means that a transaction is simply a double spend of another transaction, but you pay a higher transaction fee than the alternative transaction. Opt-in RBF means that RBF transactions can only replace transactions that have opted in to allow self-replacement. Opt-in RBF follows BIP 125.
The instructions provided in this section are for conducting a complete RBF transaction. Opt-in RBF transactions are described in the “Preventing Future Transaction Interruptions” section.
How to create a full RBF transaction
Performing full RBF transactions depends entirely on the wallet you use. Some wallets support the advanced features required to perform full RBF transactions, while others do not. Below is a guide for each wallet on how to perform a full RBF transaction with that wallet. Typically, the procedure is to remove unconfirmed transactions from your wallet and then send the bitcoins back, but the transaction fees are higher.
When making a full RBF transaction, the transaction must include the recommended commission rate in effect at the time the transaction is created. For help with this, see the “Preventing this problem in the future” section.
bitcoin core
Bitcoin Core makes the entire RBF transaction very easy. Simply go to your transaction list, right-click on the aborted transaction and Abandon Transaction
option.
If that option is greyed out, go to Bitcoin Core. datadir
delete it mempool.dat
file. Then restart Bitcoin Core using: -walletbroadcast=0
Options allow you to use Abandon Transaction
.
If the above two options fail for some reason, start Bitcoin Core as follows: -zapwallettxes
Option to delete all unconfirmed transactions from your wallet.
If your transaction is canceled or deleted from your wallet, you can go to the Send tab and send your Bitcoin again, but make sure it includes a sufficient transaction fee.
Bitcoin Armory
Bitcoin Armory also makes the entire RBF transaction very easy. movement Help > Clear All Unconfirmed Transactions
Restart your armory. This will clear all unconfirmed transactions from your wallet and allow you to create full RBF transactions. Once Armory restarts, send Bitcoin again as usual. However, you must include sufficient transaction fees.
Multibit HD
MultiBit HD also makes full RBF trading very easy. movement Manage Wallet
And click Repair Wallet
And follow the wizard. This process deletes all unconfirmed transactions from your wallet, similar to Bitcoin Core and Armory. Once your wallet has been repaired, send your bitcoins again as usual. Some users have had trouble using this method in the past and it may not always work. You may have to wait for the transaction to be “forgotten” for this method to work.
Wallets that do not allow RBF trading or wallets that do not know how to trade full RBF
Not all wallets support creating full RBF transactions. Many wallets do not allow deleting all unconfirmed transactions to allow full RBF transactions. Below is a list of wallet software that does not support full RBF transactions. If a wallet on this list supports FullRBF transactions, please let us know and provide instructions so we can add it above.
- Blockchain.info and common web wallets
- Electrum (supports opt-in RBF, but not full RBF)
- mycelium
- multibeat classic
- Bitcoin Wallet for Android
- bread wallet
- deductible
Attempts to make transactions where children pay their parents
What is a child-paying-parent transaction?
CPFP (Child-Pays-For-Parent) transactions, as the name suggests, are disbursed from a parent transaction that is not exactly confirmed, and include a transaction fee that includes both the child transaction and the parent fee. However, creating a CPFP transaction is much more difficult because it requires spending in an unconfirmed transaction, which many wallets do not allow.
Use dynamic fees
The best way to avoid transaction interruptions is to avoid spending on unconfirmed transactions and to include sufficient transaction fees. If your wallet supports dynamic transaction fees, you should use them. If you want very fast confirmation, set dynamic fees to choose the fastest fee possible. Dynamic fees are calculated in your wallet by analyzing the current state of the network and determining the optimal transaction fee from there. Because the state of the network is constantly changing, the optimal transaction fee calculated on one day may not necessarily be the highest fee on the next day.
If your wallet does not support dynamic fees, but supports setting custom transaction fee rates for each transaction, you can look up the optimal fee rates on sites like http://bitcoinfees.21.co/ and https://bitcoinfees.github. can. .io/ Sets the commission rate for each transaction based on the site in question. You must do this for each transaction. Otherwise, you may end up paying suboptimal fees.
If your wallet does not support any kind of commission rate or does not allow you to set custom transaction fees, you will need to upgrade to a new wallet. Because networks are constantly changing, using fixed fees or fixed fee rates is no longer a good idea. You can use the following formula: <in>*148 + <out>*34 + 10
where <in>
The number of inputs is: <out>
Number of outputs to estimate the transaction size and determine the optimal fee for it.
Some wallets (e.g. Blockchain.info) place a cap on transaction fees even if they use dynamic fees. If your transactions are consistently interrupted despite using dynamic fees, you may need to check your wallet settings and switch to a new wallet with no transaction fee limits.
Use opt-in RBF
Opt-In RBF is a feature that makes it easier to create RBF transactions because these transactions will not be rejected by nodes that support Opt-In RBF.
Currently, few wallets support creating Opt-In RBF transactions.
Electrum
To create a swappable transaction, go to Tools > Preferences and check the “Enable swapping with fees” box. Then, if you want to send Bitcoin, there’s a box next to the fee slider that says “Eligible for Exchange.” Check the box to allow the transaction to be replaced with a higher-fee transaction while it is not yet confirmed.
To increase the fees for a transaction that uses Opt-In RBF, right-click on the transaction in the history list and select the “Increase Fees” option.
arsenal
Armory also allows RBF transaction creation. When sending a transaction, check the “Enable RBF” checkbox.
To increase the fee for a transaction that uses Opt-In RBF, right-click on the transaction in the transaction list and select the “Bump Fee” option. Transactions that may result in increased fees are clearly indicated in the transaction list.