How Many Confirmations Does a Crypto Transaction Need?

October 1, 2026  ·  5 min read

You sent crypto and are waiting for it to arrive. The service you're sending to shows "X of Y confirmations required." How long does this take? How many is enough? The answer varies by blockchain, transaction size, and security requirements.

What Is a Confirmation?

A confirmation is a new block added to the blockchain on top of the block containing your transaction. Each additional block makes it exponentially harder for anyone to reverse the transaction. The first confirmation means the transaction is included in a block; the sixth means five more blocks have been added since, making reversal practically impossible for any real-world attacker.

Bitcoin (BTC) Confirmations

Bitcoin blocks are added approximately every 10 minutes. The number of confirmations required depends on the amount and the platform:

• 1 confirmation (~10 min): Small amounts, most instant exchanges including FixedFloat
• 3 confirmations (~30 min): Medium amounts on many exchanges
• 6 confirmations (~1 hour): Large amounts; industry standard for high security
• Coinbase, Kraken: 3 confirmations for most BTC deposits

FixedFloat requires 1 BTC confirmation before processing an exchange order.

Ethereum (ETH) Confirmations

Ethereum has changed significantly since The Merge (September 2022). With Proof of Stake, blocks are produced every 12 seconds. Ethereum also has concepts of "finality":

• 12 confirmations (~2.5 min): High confidence for small amounts
• 64 confirmations (~13 min): "Justified" checkpoint — most exchanges use this
• Economic finality (~15 min): When a checkpoint is finalized, reversal would require burning ~1/3 of all staked ETH

Most platforms credit ETH deposits after 12–64 confirmations.

Litecoin (LTC) Confirmations

Litecoin blocks are added every 2.5 minutes — four times faster than Bitcoin.

• 6 confirmations (~15 min): Standard requirement for most services
• 12 confirmations (~30 min): Used by some larger exchanges

Monero (XMR) Confirmations

Monero blocks are added approximately every 2 minutes. Due to its privacy design (ring signatures, stealth addresses), Monero requires more confirmations to be safe:

• 10 confirmations (~20 min): Standard — required by most exchanges and FixedFloat
• 20+ confirmations (~40 min): High-value transactions

Other Major Coins

• Solana (SOL): ~400ms per slot; most services wait 32 confirmations (~15s). Very fast finality.
• Bitcoin Cash (BCH): Similar to BTC, 6 confirmations (~1 hour)
• Ripple (XRP): Ledger closes every 3–5 seconds; most services accept 1–2 confirmations
• USDT (Tron TRC-20): ~3 seconds per block; 20 confirmations (~1 min)
• USDT (Ethereum ERC-20): Same as ETH — 12–64 confirmations

Why Do Requirements Differ?

Each service sets its own confirmation threshold based on:

• Transaction value: Higher amounts warrant more confirmations
• Hash rate: More mining power = more security per confirmation (BTC vs. smaller PoW coins)
• Historical attacks: Chains that experienced 51% attacks (ETC, BTG) require more confirmations
• Business risk tolerance: Instant exchanges often accept fewer confirmations than custodial exchanges

Confirmation Times at FixedFloat

FixedFloat monitors your deposit automatically and processes the exchange as soon as the minimum confirmations are reached. For most orders, the full process (confirmations + exchange + outbound transaction) takes 10–30 minutes depending on the coin pair.