I received some btc cash and it’s currently at 4 confirmations in an hour. Is this officially safe from double spend?. I think my exchange requires 6 for me to have it in my balance.
If it works like the actual Bitcoin, you can spend, not double-spend. The solution to the double-spend problem is what makes Bitcoin successful.
Again, if if BCH works exactly like Bitcoin, you can freely use that money even in confirmation phase, and after an hour (6 blocks) it will be fully confirmed.
Once your transaction is added to a mined block, its confirmed. The next confirmations (in Bitcoin it is 6), is simply the next 6 blocks mined after the block your tx was added
DangerHighVoltage111 on
You usually can immediately spend or use your BCH. 0-conf is safe for everyday values. Exchanges require 3-6 confirmations more than 10 is overkill because of BCHs rolling checkpoint. and does not speak for the exchange.
cashflashmil on
At 4 confirmations, the practical double-spend risk is already very low.
But “officially safe” depends on the platform you are sending to. If your exchange requires 6 confirmations, then for their system it is not considered final until block 6, even if the transaction is already very unlikely to be reversed.
So the short answer is:
4 confirmations = very likely safe in practice
6 confirmations = safe enough for the exchange to credit your balance
Each additional block makes a reversal exponentially less likely.
3 Comments
If it works like the actual Bitcoin, you can spend, not double-spend. The solution to the double-spend problem is what makes Bitcoin successful.
Again, if if BCH works exactly like Bitcoin, you can freely use that money even in confirmation phase, and after an hour (6 blocks) it will be fully confirmed.
Once your transaction is added to a mined block, its confirmed. The next confirmations (in Bitcoin it is 6), is simply the next 6 blocks mined after the block your tx was added
You usually can immediately spend or use your BCH. 0-conf is safe for everyday values. Exchanges require 3-6 confirmations more than 10 is overkill because of BCHs rolling checkpoint. and does not speak for the exchange.
At 4 confirmations, the practical double-spend risk is already very low.
But “officially safe” depends on the platform you are sending to. If your exchange requires 6 confirmations, then for their system it is not considered final until block 6, even if the transaction is already very unlikely to be reversed.
So the short answer is:
4 confirmations = very likely safe in practice
6 confirmations = safe enough for the exchange to credit your balance
Each additional block makes a reversal exponentially less likely.