What are Bitcoin Blocks and Bitcoin Confirmations ?
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For the past few weeks, there have been increased transaction delays on the Bitcoin network, something which affects all Bitcoin providers and users all around the world. When you send Bitcoin, the transaction may be instantly broadcast to the Bitcoin network, but will not immediately be confirmed.
Most wallets, like Luno, require three blockchain confirmations before it will show up as completed, some may require up to six. Approximately every ten minutes, a new block is created and added to the blockchain through a process called mining. Each block verifies and records any new transactions such as the Bitcoin you may be sending.
These transactions are then confirmed by the Bitcoin network. Once the next block is created and the new transaction is verified and included in that block, the transaction will have one confirmation.
Approximately every ten minutes thereafter, a new block is created and the transaction is reconfirmed by the Bitcoin network. As mentioned above, blocks are usually confirmed at approximately one block every ten minutes. However, the Bitcoin network can currently only handle a finite amount of transactions per block. Each transaction has a certain size in bytes and each block can only contain a certain number of bytes.
When a lot of transactions are being broadcasted --faster than what the network can currently process it-- it creates a backlog of unconfirmed transactions. Backlogs happen occasionally, but the network eventually resolves all of the transactions within a day or so.
You can see the current amount of unconfirmed transactions here: You can track the average amount of time it takes for transactions to be confirmed here: This means that in time and with consensusBitcoin transaction speeds could very well improve in future. In the meanwhile, we have a great option for customers who are sending to another Luno wallet. The other advantage is that no Bitcoin network fees will apply: Werner was our former Head of Communications. His passions include payments, e-commerce, technology, marketing and design: Buy, store and learn about Bitcoin and Ethereum now.
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