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I must have misremembered? Last time I looked (maybe 2 years ago) I thought actual bitcoin transactions took maybe an hour to confirm and cost a couple of dolla

I must have misremembered? Last time I looked (maybe 2 years ago) I thought actual bitcoin transactions took maybe an hour to confirm and cost a couple of dollars -- am I just short more marbles than I thought I was or has something changed with how they do transactions. The context I was looking at related to storing data in the bitcoin ledger. I think I commented here, I'll have to look back and see.

olalonde 1y ago
It's a dynamic market so fees can vary depending on congestion, BTC price, etc. Expected time to first block confirmation is around 10 minutes assuming your fee is high enough to be included in the next block (when blocks are full, miners prioritize transactions with higher fee). When you send a transaction, you get to pick what fee you'd like to use. For this kind of service, transaction speed isn't really important so you can get away with setting a low fee. Here's a 0.15$ fee transaction that was mined just 6 minutes ago: https://mempool.space/tx/2e66ba1758e233ff1b2395c7db55f8327deeae4f05f55b3af5c9c6ccdd358e81 https://mempool.space/tx/2e66ba1758e233ff1b2395c7db55f8327de... By "off-chain", I meant something like BuyMeACoffee letting users top up a wallet via an on-chain deposit, and then handling tips internally (e.g., in a SQL database). That way, small payments don't each require a blockchain transaction.
- once_inc 1y ago
  Expected time to first block confirmation is always 10 minutes. If the last block was found 10 minutes ago, then the expected time to the next block is still 10 minutes. It is always 10 minutes until it is actually found, at which point it is still 10 minutes. The only thing that can change value is if the global hash rate significantly changes. This is why we have the difficulty readjustment every 2016 blocks (give or take 2 weeks).
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - olalonde 1y ago
    Oops, you're right, I forgot about that. Updated my comment. https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/3911 https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/3911
Shatnerz 1y ago
Bitcoin may not be the best example because it does have a lot of limitation and somewhat failed as a currency and instead turned into a speculative store of value. Block time on Bitcoin is ~10 min. For small purchases, you would probably be fine with 1 confirmation, but a 10 minute wait is terrible UX. There is lighting which is a layer on top of bitcoin which is much faster, but the UX is still a bit clunky. But in general, I agree that cryptocurrencies could help the problem, but it still carries the compliance and AML risks unless you can outsource that to a 3rd party. What happens if you accept funds from an OFAC or other sanctioned account? Violating AML can come with huge fines and is generally just a massive headache. Cash doesn't have these issues as the evidence is generally impossible to track well. With nearly all cryptocurrencies, the entire ledger is open, so if you accidentally accepted payment from the wrong person, you could get royally screwed at some later time.

olalonde 1y ago

It's a dynamic market so fees can vary depending on congestion, BTC price, etc. Expected time to first block confirmation is around 10 minutes assuming your fee is high enough to be included in the next block (when blocks are full, miners prioritize transactions with higher fee). When you send a transaction, you get to pick what fee you'd like to use. For this kind of service, transaction speed isn't really important so you can get away with setting a low fee. Here's a 0.15$ fee transaction that was mined just 6 minutes ago: https://mempool.space/tx/2e66ba1758e233ff1b2395c7db55f8327deeae4f05f55b3af5c9c6ccdd358e81 https://mempool.space/tx/2e66ba1758e233ff1b2395c7db55f8327de... By "off-chain", I meant something like BuyMeACoffee letting users top up a wallet via an on-chain deposit, and then handling tips internally (e.g., in a SQL database). That way, small payments don't each require a blockchain transaction.

once_inc 1y ago
Expected time to first block confirmation is always 10 minutes. If the last block was found 10 minutes ago, then the expected time to the next block is still 10 minutes. It is always 10 minutes until it is actually found, at which point it is still 10 minutes. The only thing that can change value is if the global hash rate significantly changes. This is why we have the difficulty readjustment every 2016 blocks (give or take 2 weeks).
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- olalonde 1y ago
  Oops, you're right, I forgot about that. Updated my comment. https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/3911 https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/a/3911

Shatnerz 1y ago

Bitcoin may not be the best example because it does have a lot of limitation and somewhat failed as a currency and instead turned into a speculative store of value. Block time on Bitcoin is ~10 min. For small purchases, you would probably be fine with 1 confirmation, but a 10 minute wait is terrible UX. There is lighting which is a layer on top of bitcoin which is much faster, but the UX is still a bit clunky. But in general, I agree that cryptocurrencies could help the problem, but it still carries the compliance and AML risks unless you can outsource that to a 3rd party. What happens if you accept funds from an OFAC or other sanctioned account? Violating AML can come with huge fines and is generally just a massive headache. Cash doesn't have these issues as the evidence is generally impossible to track well. With nearly all cryptocurrencies, the entire ledger is open, so if you accidentally accepted payment from the wrong person, you could get royally screwed at some later time.