What to do if bitcoins didn’t arrive

Bitcoins

Some users face difficulties when a transaction is completed but bitcoins are not credited to their account. This is caused by inexperience and ignorance of how blockchain technology works. To understand the situation, we need to consider the possible problems and solutions.

Why bitcoins have not arrived

There are several reasons whyBTCs do not arrive in the account. The most common ones include:

  • Entering the wrong wallet address.
  • Overloading the memory pool (mempool).
  • Low commission.
  • Slow internet speed.
  • Spam or “dust attacks”.

BTC recipient address

There can be several problems with the address. The following situations occur most often:

  • Incorrect characters are entered. In this case, bitcoins will not go anywhere, the wallet will not allow you to make a transfer.
  • The address is specified correctly, but not the one to which it was necessary to send the cryptocurrency. VTS will go to another person’s wallet.
  • Fraudsters got access to a computer or smartphone and substituted the wallet address. In this case, the funds will go to the attackers.

Network overload

Bitcoin has a throughput of 7 transactions per second. When there is a sudden burst of user activity, the mempool can be overloaded as many transactions are waiting to be processed and included in the block. Bitcoin has a throughput of 7 transactions per second. When there is a sudden burst of user activity, the mempool can be overloaded because there are many transactions waiting to be processed and included in the block.

What to do if bitcoins didn't arrive
An example of Bitcoin network overload

How long to wait

It takes 6 miner confirmations to process a bitcoin transaction. The average time it takes to mine a block is 10 minutes. So, it takes 1 hour for 6 standard confirmations.

At times of network congestion, it can take from 20 minutes to 16 hours for 1 BTC transfer.

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What to do if bitcoins didn't arrive
Waiting time for a BTC transaction

Finding the cause

First you need to check the entered data on the payment page. You should carefully study the “History” tab in your personal cabinet. Here you should also see notifications about the transfer or denial of the operation and the number of confirmations made.

What to do if bitcoins didn't arrive
Personal cabinet of the cryptocurrency wallet user

Next, it is worth clarifying the status on the sites of Bloxchair or Blockchain. It is necessary to insert the transaction hash (number) or cryptocurrency wallet address in the search field.

What to do if bitcoins didn't arrive
Blockchair interface to check the status of the transaction, address, block

Bitcoin transaction acceleration

Low fees are the main error due to which Bitcoin does not arrive. Replace-by-Fee, Child pays for parent methods help to solve this problem.

You can also use paid and free gas pedal services.

Replace-by-Fee

RBF is a way to “push through” a hung transaction by replacing it. In order to make a transfer with minimal commission quickly, you need to make another one, but with a higher fee. In this case, only the second transaction gets into the block, and the first transaction is canceled.

Child pays for parent

The CPFP method means that the user of an unconfirmed payment creates a new (child) transfer with a higher fee using funds from the first (parent) one, which is hung up. This method is more expensive in cost than RBF because miners receive a commission for both transactions.

Bitcoin rules require the parent transaction to appear earlier in the same block than the child if both are included in the same block.

Gas pedals

Services that are managed by miners can be used to process transfers quickly. This way, they get rewarded directly and include the transaction with a low commission in one of the first blocks.

The most well-known gas pedals of VTS transactions are listed in the table.

Paid and freeFree
viaBTC – has been operating since 2017 and is the most trusted gas pedal. Provides paid and free acceleration.bitAccelerate – automatically submits the transaction to the largest open mining pools.
antPool – has higher prices than ViaBTC.bitTools – similar in functionality to the previous service.
VTC – does not have its own acceleration service, but cooperates with several leading bitcoin pools.bitNitro – aggregates different acceleration options and shows stable performance.

In order for a transaction to be confirmed faster, you need to send its TXID to the gas pedal. The identifier can be found in the explorer.

What to do if bitcoins didn't arrive
Example of a service to increase the speed of bitcoin transactions

What to do in case of a transaction freeze

If bitcoins did not come to the account, you need to perform the following actions:

  • Check the stability of the internet connection.
  • Make sure that the recipient’s details are filled in correctly – the address of the wallet to which the funds were sent.
  • View notifications, whether there are messages about technical problems in the service.
  • Determine the status of the operation on Bitcoin network monitoring sites: Bloxxhair or Blockchain. To do this, copy the ID-transaction on the payment page in the wallet and paste it into a special field on the selected site.
  • Specify the number of transaction confirmations. If they are less than 6, the payment can still be processed. In this case, you need to wait.
  • Increase the size of the commission. If the cryptocurrency wallet (by default) includes a low amount of remuneration, you can adjust it manually. Sites like Bitcoin Feels monitor the network and offer the optimal payout level per byte.
  • See if dynamic commissions are available. Many services automatically put one that will include the transaction in one of the first blocks to be processed.
  • If transfers are delayed and you can’t set a high commission priority, you should upgrade your wallet or switch to another service.
  • Use RBF, CPFP options and gas pedals like ViaBTC. If you have accounts in BlueWallet, Electrum Bitcoin Wallet, GreenAddress, Bitcoin Core, Replace-by-Fee is available. The option must be enabled in the settings menu before sending the first transaction.

The Child pays for parent option is supported by Bitcoin Core, Electrum, Copay Samourai Wallet, BitPay and other wallets. The user is required to:

  1. Copy the address.
  2. Paste it into the appropriate field and click the “Send” button.
  3. Go to the confirmation screen and select a high priority or customized rate.
  4. Submit and wait for the transaction to be confirmed.

If none of the above yielded results, the transaction is confirmed, but bitcoins did not come, you should contact the service’s support team.

Frequently Asked Questions

🕒 Why does it take so long to confirm my transaction?

Block sizes are limited, so only a limited number of transactions can be processed in a certain period of time.

💵 What is the recommended fee for transferring bitcoins?

Miners’ remuneration depends on the size of the transfer and the network load at the moment.

🤔 What is the wallet ID?

It is a string of letters and numbers that acts as a username.

⛔ Can I cancel a transaction?

Cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible.

❓ Why do I have VTS in my wallet, but when I try to make a transfer, a message about insufficient balance appears?

Most likely, the commissions of the BTC network are high, and the amount is insufficient to cover it and send funds.

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Author: Saifedean Ammous, an expert in cryptocurrency economics.

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