How many confirmations are enough?

Whatever the receiving party requires. For your own transfers, one is usually the moment it stops being reversible in practice.

A confirmation is a block built on top of the block containing your transaction. Each one makes reversal exponentially harder, which is why exchanges wait for several before crediting a deposit.

The number is a policy, not a law of the network, and it varies by asset and by platform — some credit after one, some after dozens for the same coin.

Between your own wallets, the first confirmation is normally the end of the story. For a large payment to somebody else, waiting for a few more costs nothing but time.

The related idea is finality: some networks reach a point where reversal is not merely unlikely but impossible by the rules. On those, waiting past that point adds nothing at all.

Fees and confirmations explains why a transfer can also sit unconfirmed for hours.

Last checked 19 Oct 2026.