The Bitcoin Network is getting on and is rather old when compared to other cryptocurrencies. It is the relative grandfather in the blockchain space, and while its technology has not been stagnant, it has begun to show its age pretty well in recent years.
The Bitcoin network can process a maximum of 4.6 transactions per second which as you can imagine can become a real problem as the number of wallets grows. As the number of users trying to submit transactions to the network, you can imagine how bogged down it can become considering this is a global payment system.
This slow network operation is where the frustration comes in due to a lack of understanding of how the Bitcoin blockchain works.
The mempool
As transactions are submitted to the Bitcoin network, it is first placed in the memepool for miners to add to select and add blocks and confirm on the blockchain.
Miners don't merely select transactions based on chronological order and try to fit as many high paying transactions into their blocks as possible to reap additional payment from the transaction costs.
This means if you used a standard Bitcoin transaction you transfer may not have preference over others who offered a high transaction fee and you will be pushed down the queue.
You can see how this can be a problem when transfers are time-sensitive like trying to get in on a sale, trying to sell to make a profit or trying to complete a purchase in a physical store.
Bitcoin Transfer Accelerators
To get your Bitcoin transactions to confirm promptly, you need to make your transfer more appealing to miners by increasing the transfer fees. This can be done with specific hot wallets who have the functionality already built into it, or you can use a Bitcoin Transfer Accelerator.
A BTC transfer Accelerators assists by allowing you to set the transfer fee you're willing to pay relative to the network and make sure miners want to confirm your transaction first.
If you want to try out a Bitcoin Transfer Accelerator, you can check out services like Bitcoin Afterburner, ViaBTC & BTC.com which all can help you upgrade your fee structure and help get your transaction picked up by miners.
A word of warning
Please note that depending on how busy the network is at the time, the fees can get rather expensive, so use the service wisely.
Since this is a 3rd party tool, you also need to watch out for scammers and replica services that could be out to strip your additional transfer fees.
So make sure you do your research before you settle on using any cryptocurrency based service.
Working on the network
Have you ever had a Bitcoin transaction linger for some time? How long did you have to wait to confirm your transaction? Did you wish you knew about accelerators? Let me know in the comments below.
Previous ADSactly Crypto posts
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- ADSactly Crypto: How Many Bitcoin's Have Already Been Lost Forever?
- ADSactly Crypto: What Is the Bitcoin Halving?
- ADSactly Crypto: What Is A Bitcoin Paper Wallet
- ADSactly Crypto: The Importance of Private Keys
- ADSactly Crypto: How Bitcoin Futures Could Affect The Future Of Bitcoin
Authored by @chekohler