How Long Does An Ethereum Transaction Take To Confirm?

Being a long-time crypto trader means you must have at some point in time, experienced a delay in your transaction. You probably have wondered about the ideal time it’s supposed to take before a transaction on the Ethereum network is to be finalized. 

It usually takes from 5 minutes to 4 hours for an Ethereum transaction to be confirmed and completed—It all depends on the network congestion level at the transaction time. While we can’t establish a definite time for this confirmation, we can factually point out the many reasons that can pass as delay factors for an Ethereum transaction to hang for long before reaching its confirmation stage. 

Why Is My Ethereum Transaction Taking So Long? 

Here’s the thing, the blockchain on which Ethereum is built doesn’t have a centralized authority that validates the transactions carried out therein. Instead, some miners solve complex computational problems as a means of security promotion on the blockchain before a transaction is completed. And thereafter, these miners get incentives. 

If an Ethereum transaction hangs and takes too long to attain a confirmation stage, it means the transaction hasn’t been confirmed by miners and is yet to be added to the blockchain. Some reasons can cause this possibility. 

Reasons For Pending Ethereum Transaction 

Since it has been established that delayed transactions on the Ethereum network or ERC20 are because it has not been confirmed and added to the block by transaction validators (miners), let’s see the conditions why miners couldn’t have picked up a transaction.

1. Little gas fees

Every transaction on the Ethereum network is accompanied by a specific amount of gas fee that should facilitate the transaction. These attached fees practically vary—some are way higher than others. This makes miners prioritize and first confirm transactions with better-attached fees where they are highly incentivized. Basically, the confirmation time of a transaction has an extent of proportionality to the gas fee attached to it. The more gas fee a transaction has, the better chance it has of being picked up by miners. 

2. Network congestion

It’s natural to have a hanging Ethereum transaction if the network is congested. Especially considering the fact that Ethereum is built on a “public network” system with too many simultaneously running nodes. The possibility of network congestion slowing down a transaction on the Ethereum network is very high when the fee attached to a transaction is low. 

3. Pending transaction

Think of a one-way canal with a flowing stream passing through it. Now, think of the canal size as just big enough to allow just one ball to pass through it at a time. With this picture in mind, it means any ball coming behind the first one cannot pass through the canal except the first ball goes out. 

The above analogy is how the transactions on the Ethereum network work. The canal represents the Ethereum network while the balls represent transactions. So it means until the first transaction is confirmed, any other one coming after it on that same wallet wouldn’t go through. 

In this case, this first transaction should be canceled, then attached to a higher gas fee, and rerun. It’s only after this that the next pending transaction can be confirmed. 

Converting Crypto To Cash

Since all the blockchain activities is a married home, there’s a need to paint clarity as regards viable and seamless means of converting crypto assets to cash. The crypto facility adopted for this cause goes a long way in determining the extent of hurdles that would be encountered. But so far, automated exchanges have proven to be more effective. 

Dart Africa is one such exchange. This platform functions as an easy conversion ground for digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum USDT, Litecoin, BNB, and some other cryptos to be converted to local currency. The sad news, however, is that it’s only usable by solely Ghanaian and Nigerian crypto traders. And so far, it’s been efficient. And aside from reviews, its sign-up rate is a pointer to its effectiveness in the Nigerian and Ghanaian crypto communities. 

Conclusion

Conclusively, there’s not a specific time for an Ethereum transaction to be confirmed—it is left to happenstance as would be determined by a number of causative factors. Knowing these factors, as stated in this article, gives insight into making strategic moves that should spur a transaction carried out in the Ethereum network to be confirmed in the shortest possible time.