How do crypto payment confirmations work?
A confirmation is each new block added after the one containing your payment. The first confirmation means it's recorded; more confirmations make it increasingly final and harder to reverse.
What 'confirmed' means
When a payment lands in a block, that's one confirmation. Each block stacked on top is another. Recipients of larger amounts often wait for several before treating it as settled.
Practical guidance
For small everyday amounts, fewer confirmations may be acceptable; for larger ones, waiting for more reduces the (already small) chance of reversal.
Treating a payment as done before it's confirmed is a classic mistake — for both senders and businesses accepting crypto.
Confirmations are like delivery scans: one scan says it arrived; several scans across checkpoints make it certain it's truly settled.
- Zero-confirmation payments can still fail or be replaced.
- Different networks confirm at different speeds.
- Accepting goods before sufficient confirmations carries risk for merchants.
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Last reviewed 2026-06-25. This topic can change over time; always confirm current specifics from primary sources.