Rest assured even if your Bitcoin transaction is not confirmed. You are not alone. Unconfirmed transactions in the Bitcoin mempool can number in the hundreds of thousands, and your transaction could be one of many waiting to be processed. If your transaction fees are low, it may take days, weeks, or even months for final confirmation.
It is also not uncommon for the Bitcoin network to become congested immediately after sending a transaction. Due to this congestion, the fee proposed by the wallet may not be enough to prioritize transactions in the next block.
In this article, we will look at three ways to “accelerate” your Bitcoin transactions due to lower fees.
1. Transaction Accelerator
Numerous services and websites offer Bitcoin transaction acceleration for free or at a low cost. This is the simplest way to quickly process Bitcoin transactions regardless of parameters. Here are some of the most reputable Bitcoin transaction acceleration services:
BitAccelerate stands out as one of the oldest and most reputable services in this space. We provide basic acceleration for free. If you need faster verification or if the free option is lacking, BitAccelerate offers a premium paid alternative.
However, it is worth noting that the downside to this approach is the prevalence of fraudulent services. There are numerous fraudulent services that scam users by accepting payments without providing the promised acceleration. Therefore, it is important to exercise caution and only choose established, reputable Bitcoin accelerators.
2. RBF (Replacement by Fee)
RBF is a feature that can be enabled in your Bitcoin wallet for each transaction before the transaction is broadcast. Doing so indicates that the transaction is not final and may be replaced by a similar transaction with a higher fee at a later date. All modern Bitcoin wallets support RBF.
This feature allows you to start trading with a low fee and, if necessary, increase the fee later if the transaction is not confirmed. Widely accepted as standard practice, RBF represents the easiest and most secure way to quickly process transaction confirmations without requiring technical expertise. An important step is to remember to designate transactions as RBF within your Bitcoin wallet.
One downside to this method is that the person receiving the payment has less confidence in the transaction until it is confirmed. This uncertainty arises from the fact that the transaction is not final and is considered to be subject to substitution. Additionally, there is a limitation that some wallets still do not support RBF.
3. CPFP (Child Pays for Parents)
In this method, called Child Pays For Parent (CPFP), a second transaction, called a “child,” is posted to expedite processing of a particular transaction, called a “parent.” This second transaction consumes one of the outputs of the initial transaction at a higher fee. The goal is to ensure that the combined average fee of two transactions is appropriate compared to typical market conditions on the Bitcoin network.
The advantage of CPFP is that it is universally applicable to all Bitcoin transactions, regardless of whether they are RBF denominated or not. Anyone can accelerate transactions if they can control one or more of the outputs. For example, if you are the recipient of funds and the transaction fees are low, you can utilize CPFP to receive your funds quickly.
However, the downside to CPFP is that it requires the use of a wallet to support the spending consequences of unconfirmed transactions. Additionally, technical proficiency is required to accurately calculate the commission for the second transaction. Fortunately, there are easily available online CPFP calculators to simplify this process.
There are scenarios where the timely arrival of specific funds is critical, and there are other scenarios where the successful processing of specific transactions is essential, often tied to contracts or deadlines. This article explained three ways to expedite Bitcoin transaction confirmations. Choose the one that best suits your situation and technical proficiency.