Confirmation
How deeply buried your transaction is — each new block makes it harder to reverse.
In plain words
When your payment lands in a block, it has one confirmation. Every block after adds another. To undo it, an attacker must redo that block and every block since, faster than the whole world's miners. After a few blocks, the attempt is hopeless. Zero confirmations means still waiting in line. The bigger the payment, the more confirmations you should demand.
Why it matters
- Confirmations are settlement: after enough, no one reverses your payment.
- The wait is the price of certainty — about ten minutes per layer.
- Accepting zero confirmations is a gamble, and the seller owns it.
Numbers that matter
- 1 — it's in a block.
- 6 — the traditional "consider it settled" point (~1 hour).
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Updated 2026-07-29