What is a block confirmation?
DefinitionA block confirmation is a measure of how settled a transaction is: it gets its first confirmation when it is included in a block, and one more for every block added after that. The more confirmations, the harder the transaction is to reverse.
How confirmations work
A signed transaction first waits in a queue of pending transactions. When a miner or validator includes it in a block, it gets its first confirmation, and each later block built on top adds another, making the record harder to change.
Some networks also reach finality, a point after which a transaction can’t be reversed under the protocol’s rules. On Ethereum this takes two epochs, roughly 13 minutes, while TON finalizes blocks within seconds.
How many confirmations are enough
There is no universal number. Each exchange or service sets its own requirement, based on the network and the amount. Typical patterns:
- Bitcoin: a block every 10 minutes on average; services often wait for 1 to 6 confirmations depending on the amount
- Ethereum: a block every 12 seconds, and most other EVM networks are faster; services wait for a set number of blocks or for finality
- Tron: a block about every 3 seconds; a transaction is treated as irreversible after 19 confirmations
- TON: fast finality, so transfers usually settle within seconds
Pending, stuck and expired transactions
A transaction with a fee too low for current demand can stay pending for a long time. On Bitcoin it may eventually drop out of the queue, and on EVM networks a stuck transaction also holds back the ones you send after it from the same address.
Some networks let a transaction expire. A TON transfer, for example, carries a deadline; if it isn’t included in time, it never executes and the funds stay in your wallet.
In Waletifi, the network fee is shown on the review screen before you confirm, and confirmation then happens on the network itself, at that network’s pace.
