What if you need to make a Bitcoin transaction, and you need to make it right away?
The most convenient way to make a Bitcoin transaction when you’re on the go is to use a Bitcoin ATM. But you may need to learn more about that process, including how long the transaction will take. How long do Bitcoin ATM transactions take, and what makes them take that long? Keep reading to discover the answers!
Benefits Of Using A Bitcoin ATM
A Bitcoin ATM is like a typical ATM, but it specializes in helping users interested in selling Bitcoin or buying Bitcoin. Instead of connecting to a traditional bank, the Bitcoin ATM helps connect you to the cryptocurrency exchange.
Using a Bitcoin ATM is relatively easy. Once you verify your identity, you can access the exchange very quickly. At this point, you can buy, sell, or both!
But how long do Bitcoin ATM transactions take? Knowing your timeline is essential information when you’re on the go, and we have the answers you need.
How Long Do Bitcoin ATM Transactions Take?
Most Bitcoin ATM transactions process in about 30 minutes; however, various factors can cause some transactions to last longer.
Behind the scenes, it only takes about 10 minutes to confirm your transaction. So why does it take so long before you see the transaction on the blockchain? It comes down to several different factors.
These factors include the blockchain, a special fee, network traffic, operator processing time, and verification time. To help you understand how each of these factors impacts your transaction, we’ll take a closer look at each.
Understanding The Blockchain
As you may know, blockchain is at the core of all cryptocurrencies. The blockchain serves as a kind of public ledger that records all transactions. Because this ledger cannot be altered, blockchain is very secure.
However, adding to the blockchain takes time. Multiple transactions take up a single block, and it takes about ten minutes to create a block.
This process mentioned above is one reason that ATM transaction time is variable. On the short end, the transaction may only take ten minutes. But various factors “behind the scenes” can make the transaction take much longer.
The Role of The Fee
Every ATM relies on fees. The Bitcoin ATM is no different from a traditional ATM in this sense. However, the fees are very different, affecting how long your transaction will take.
The fee in question has a range. So while your Bitcoin ATM operator will pay this fee on your behalf, they get to determine whether they will be paying a low fee, a midrange fee, or a high fee.
Transaction priority goes to the highest fees, and these are the transactions that go the fastest. Fees lower than that go into the blockchain mempool and take longer to process. This truth is why ATM transaction time can vary from ATM to ATM and transaction to transaction.
More Traffic Equals Longer Rates
A Bitcoin ATM must connect you to the internet to complete your transaction. One of the key factors behind how long you must wait is how many people are using the crypto exchange simultaneously.
High traffic may affect the transaction time because a crypto miner must verify your transactions behind the scenes.
Therefore, the more transactions that occur around the same time, the longer everything will take.
What goes into this variable verification time, in any case? Let’s dive in and take a closer look.
Variable Verification Time
Approving an entire block of transactions takes a miner about 10 minutes. However, the verification process takes more than one confirmation.
Most Bitcoin ATM transactions require three confirmations to thoroughly verify the transaction on the blockchain. In some cases, it may take as many as six confirmations. Hence, the average Bitcoin transaction takes somewhere between 30 to 60 minutes.
How quickly you see the results of the transaction depends on your wallet. Some crypto wallets will show users unconfirmed transactions, meaning that you could see some evidence of the transaction right away. Other wallets require multiple rounds of confirmations before they are visible.
Is It Faster To Transfer Bitcoin Between Wallets?
We have reviewed how long Bitcoin ATM transactions take. Now let’s take a brief look at how long it takes to transfer crypto from one wallet to another.
It usually takes 10-20 minutes to process a wallet transfer because while some of the same processes must occur behind the scenes, fewer steps are needed to verify the transaction.
In other words, wallet transfers have fewer “moving parts” and can happen much faster.
