More Examples
“Let’s wait for a few on-chain bitcoin confirmations.”
“Was my bitcoin transaction processed on-chain?”
“There is a limit to the number of on-chain transactions per second.”
Definition(s) from the Web
- A transaction is a transfer of Bitcoin value that is broadcast to the network and collected into blocks. A transaction typically references previous transaction outputs as new transaction inputs and dedicates all input Bitcoin values to new outputs. Transactions are not encrypted, so it is possible to browse and view every transaction ever collected into a block. Once transactions are buried under enough confirmations they can be considered irreversible. Standard transaction outputs nominate addresses, and the redemption of any future inputs requires a relevant signature. All transactions are visible in the block chain, and can be viewed with a hex editor. A block chain browser is a site where every transaction included within the block chain can be viewed in human-readable terms. This is useful for seeing the technical details of transactions in action and for verifying payments. Source
- A transaction is a transfer of value between Bitcoin wallets that gets included in the blockchain. Bitcoin transactions are not immediate. When a user wishes to send bitcoins, information is broadcast from her wallet to the (users in the) network, who verify that she has enough coins, and that they have never been spent before. Once validated, miners will include this transaction – along with others – in a new block in the blockchain. This is called a transaction confirmation. The transaction is now said to be “unconfirmed bitcoin transaction”. Each time a new block is added to the chain (every ten minutes), the transaction is said to be confirmed again. As a consensus, many users wait for a transaction to be confirmed six times (after roughly sixty minutes) before accepting it as payment, to avoid double-spending. Users will usually show a transaction as “n/unconfirmed” until it is six blocks deep. Source
- A new block is added to the chain at random intervals averaging, by design, ten minutes (proof-of-work causes this delay). Together with the limit on block-size, this limits the number of transactions that can be processed in a given time. Some sites work around this problem using “off-chain payments” conducting transactions without writing them to the blockchain, which involves various trade offs regarding trust and transaction finality. Source
