4 ms·

The average confirmation time is actually explained by very old transactions that have been in the mempool for weeks or months finally being included due to tra

The average confirmation time is actually explained by very old transactions that have been in the mempool for weeks or months finally being included due to transaction fees being low enough[0]. This of course raises the average confirmation time metric, but the average time for a new transaction to be included was on average 10 minutes like it always is assuming fees paid are above block minimum. [0]: https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_fee https://ycharts.com/indicators/bitcoin_average_transaction_f...

toss1 2y ago
>>n average 10 minutes like it always Ummm, not in my experience. I washed my hands of the lot some years ago, but was seeing ordinary transactions (with good fees paid) taking 6-24 hours to get confirmed. This was after getting accustomed to watching confirmations start popping in within minutes. Yes, I understand this was partially resolved, but "partially" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and I see no assurance that the network will not again see such conditions, for no apparent reason to the end user. Of course there are also other better-performing coins, but none have gained the traction of BTC. Of course we technologists can better understand and so tolerate these delay issues, but just the fact that we must explain it means it will never see wide acceptance. And that is even if the other usability and security problems are solved. When I'm reading this week of people losing millions or hundreds of millions in BTC, ya they got phished, got caught at a low-attention moment, etc... it's a problem, especially since those are experts familiar with the ins-and-outs. There is no way an average Joe & Jane would even consider putting their kid's college funds in crypto, nor should they. If you have to explain your product like that, you are already lost. Once again, the crypto industry must do the HARD work of solving those problems. But at this point it may be too late.

toss1 2y ago

>>n average 10 minutes like it always Ummm, not in my experience. I washed my hands of the lot some years ago, but was seeing ordinary transactions (with good fees paid) taking 6-24 hours to get confirmed. This was after getting accustomed to watching confirmations start popping in within minutes. Yes, I understand this was partially resolved, but "partially" is doing a lot of heavy lifting, and I see no assurance that the network will not again see such conditions, for no apparent reason to the end user. Of course there are also other better-performing coins, but none have gained the traction of BTC. Of course we technologists can better understand and so tolerate these delay issues, but just the fact that we must explain it means it will never see wide acceptance. And that is even if the other usability and security problems are solved. When I'm reading this week of people losing millions or hundreds of millions in BTC, ya they got phished, got caught at a low-attention moment, etc... it's a problem, especially since those are experts familiar with the ins-and-outs. There is no way an average Joe & Jane would even consider putting their kid's college funds in crypto, nor should they. If you have to explain your product like that, you are already lost. Once again, the crypto industry must do the HARD work of solving those problems. But at this point it may be too late.