Subscribe to Trezor Blog
>7.6K subscribers
Share Dialog
You send Bitcoin, expecting it to arrive within minutes, but instead, it sits unconfirmed in your wallet. Whether you’re transferring funds to an exchange, paying someone, or moving Bitcoin to self-custody, waiting too long for confirmation can be frustrating — especially when speed matters.
Bitcoin transactions don’t get stuck by chance. After you send them, they enter the mempool, where miners prioritize which ones to confirm first. If the fee is too low compared to the current network demand, your transaction may be delayed, while others with higher fees take priority.
So, what can you do? Whether you’re the sender or the receiver, there are ways to speed things up. Let’s go through the solutions step by step.
Understanding Bitcoin Fees: How Miners Prioritize Transactions
Can’t Use RBF? Use CPFP on Your Change Output to Speed Up Confirmation
Bitcoin transactions compete for space in the blockchain. Since block space is limited, miners prioritize transactions based on fees. The higher the fee, measured in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB), the faster miners are likely to confirm it.
Network congestion — When the Bitcoin network is busy, fees rise because more people are competing to get their transactions confirmed.
Transaction size — Fees are based on the data size of a transaction, not the amount of Bitcoin sent. A transaction with multiple inputs and outputs costs more to process.
💡 Want to learn more about how Bitcoin transactions work and how to optimize fees? Watch Trezor’s video: ▶️ Bitcoin UTXOs Explained: Save on Fees & Boost Privacy.
If your transaction is unconfirmed, you can check its status in Trezor Suite or mempool.space, a Bitcoin block explorer.
Start by opening your account in Trezor Suite and reviewing your transaction history. If it’s been over an hour and your transaction remains unconfirmed, it might still be waiting for a miner to pick it up. To see what’s happening, copy the transaction ID (TXID) from Trezor Suite and head over to mempool.space.
On the front page, you’ll see live fee estimates showing how busy the network is. If you paste your TXID into the search bar, you’ll get more details about your transaction, including whether it’s still in the queue and an estimated confirmation time.
If it looks like your fee is too low, don’t worry — there are ways to speed things up, which we’ll cover next.
If your transaction status shows ‘Unconfirmed’ and the ETA says ‘Not any time soon,’ your fee may be too low.
If your transaction is unconfirmed and taking longer than expected, you don’t have to wait it out — there are a few ways to speed things up. The right solution depends on your wallet and whether you’re the sender or the receiver of the transaction.
If you send a transaction that takes too long, you can replace it with a higher-fee version. This method, called Replace-by-Fee (RBF), allows you to push your transaction to the front of the queue.
Open Trezor Suite and locate the transaction in your history.
Click “Bump Fee” to increase the fee.
Choose a higher fee — The “High” option typically ensures fast confirmation.
Confirm the transaction on your Trezor device and broadcast the new version.
Once this is done, the original transaction is replaced, and miners are more likely to confirm it quickly.
💡 Tip: If fees keep rising, you can repeat this process by increasing the fee until it is confirmed.
For more information, please visit Replace-by-fee (RBF) on Trezor’s knowledge base.
If you receive a transaction with a low fee, it can get stuck for hours or even days. The sender might not be able to fix it, but you can — by spending the unconfirmed Bitcoin in a new transaction with a higher fee.
This method, called Child Pays for Parent (CPFP), works because miners want to collect the higher fee from your new transaction (the child). But to do so, they must first confirm the original stuck transaction (the parent).
Go to the Send tab in Trezor Suite.
Select the unconfirmed Bitcoin (marked with a 🕒 icon).
Choose a destination:
• Send it to yourself to speed up confirmation.
• Use it to pay someone else if you plan to send Bitcoin.
Set a high fee to make it attractive to miners.
Confirm and broadcast the transaction. If the total fee is attractive to miners, they will confirm both transactions together.
💡 Tip: This method only works if the unconfirmed Bitcoin is available for spending. If it’s part of a larger unconfirmed transaction, CPFP might not be possible.
Select the unconfirmed transaction (marked with a 🕒 icon) in the Coin Control section to proceed with CPFP.
For more information, please visit the Trezor Knowledge Base article on pending transactions and scroll to the section titled Child Pays for Parent (CPFP).
If you sent a Bitcoin transaction and RBF isn’t an option, you may still be able to speed it up using Child Pays for Parent (CPFP) — this time as the sender.
Trezor Suite enables RBF by default, so if a transaction you sent is stuck, you would typically use RBF to speed it up. However, if you used a wallet that doesn’t support RBF or if RBF wasn’t enabled when you sent the transaction, you may still be able to accelerate confirmation by spending the change output in a new transaction using CPFP.
When you send Bitcoin, your wallet often creates a change output (the leftover amount returning to you).
If your original transaction is stuck, and the change output is unconfirmed, you can spend that change in a new transaction with a higher fee.
This gives miners an incentive to confirm both transactions together.
💡 Tip: This won't be necessary if you’re using Trezor Suite because RBF is enabled by default. However, this method can help for wallets without RBF.
If you can’t use RBF or CPFP, there’s still another option — Mempool Accelerator, a service that lets you pay partnered mining pools to prioritize your transaction. This is useful when built-in fee adjustment tools aren’t an option.
When you use Mempool Accelerator, your transaction is treated as if it had a higher fee rate, making it more likely to be confirmed in the next block. For example, a transaction originally sent with a 10 sat/vB fee can be processed as if it had a 20 sat/vB fee, depending on your acceleration request.
It works even if you’re not the sender or receiver. Unlike RBF or CPFP, anyone can use it to speed up a transaction.
Useful for wallet limitations — If your wallet doesn’t support RBF or CPFP, this can still help get your transaction confirmed.
Simple process — Enter the transaction ID and pay an extra fee to boost priority.
Since this is a third-party service, be sure to check the costs and terms before using it. For more details, visit the Mempool Accelerator page.
A previously stuck transaction was confirmed after being prioritized through Mempool Accelerator™, showing the acceleration process and timeline.
Prevent future delays by staying informed about current network conditions and setting appropriate fees.
Use Trezor Suite’s recommended fee — It updates automatically based on network conditions.
Check mempool.space for live fee rates before sending to ensure optimal fees.
If in doubt, pay a higher fee — A small extra fee can help your transaction confirm faster, especially during periods of high demand.
If your Bitcoin transaction is stuck, the best solution depends on whether you’re the sender or receiver and whether RBF was enabled when the transaction was sent.
Use Replace-by-Fee (RBF) if you’re the sender and your wallet supports it. RBF allows you to replace your unconfirmed transaction with a higher-fee version, making it more attractive to miners. Trezor Suite enables RBF by default, so you can simply increase the fee to speed up confirmation.
Use Child Pays for Parent (CPFP) if you’re the receiver and the sender used a low fee. CPFP works by spending the unconfirmed Bitcoin in a new transaction with a higher fee, incentivizing miners to confirm both together.
You can also use CPFP as the sender if RBF isn’t available and your transaction has an unconfirmed change output. In this case, you can spend the change output in a new transaction with a higher fee.
If RBF and CPFP aren’t options, you can try Mempool Accelerator, a third-party service that lets you pay partnered mining pools to prioritize your transaction. This can be useful when your wallet doesn’t support RBF or if you need to speed up a transaction you didn’t send or receive directly.
How it works: Enter your transaction ID (TXID), pay a fee, and miners will confirm your transaction sooner.
Why use it? It works even if you’re not the sender or receiver and can help when other Bitcoin-native methods aren’t available.
💡 Note: Since this is a third-party service, always check the fees and terms before using it.
A stuck Bitcoin transaction is frustrating, but it will either confirm eventually or can be accelerated with the right approach. Whether you’re the sender or receiver, you have options — increasing the fee, sending another transaction, or using a third-party service.
The best way to avoid delays is to set an appropriate fee before sending and check network conditions beforehand. Understanding how fees work and knowing what to do if a transaction is stuck will save you time and stress in the future.
If your transaction takes longer than expected, don’t worry — Bitcoin’s network is designed to process transactions reliably, and there’s always a way to move forward.
A satoshi (sat) is the smallest unit of Bitcoin.
1 satoshi = 0.00 000 001 BTC
Bitcoin transaction fees are measured in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB) — higher sat/vB means faster confirmation.
sat/vB = satoshis per virtual byte (the fee rate for your transaction).
Fees depend on transaction size, not the amount of Bitcoin sent.
The higher the fee rate (sat/vB), the more likely miners will prioritize your transaction.
Bitcoin transactions are typically confirmed within 10–60 minutes, but it depends on the fee rate, network congestion, and transaction size. High-fee transactions confirm faster, while low-fee ones may take several hours or even days if the network is busy. You can speed up confirmation using RBF or CPFP if needed.
If your transaction is unconfirmed for a few hours and fees remain high, consider using RBF or CPFP.
If the network is less busy, waiting 12–24 hours may be enough.
No, Bitcoin transactions cannot be canceled once they are broadcast to the network.
However, if your transaction is marked as “replaceable” (RBF-enabled), you can replace it with a higher-fee transaction or send it to a different address. This effectively overrides the original transaction.
RBF lets you replace an unconfirmed transaction with a higher-fee version to speed up confirmation.
Only works if RBF was enabled when the transaction was sent.
Trezor Suite enables RBF by default.
CPFP lets you spend an unconfirmed transaction with a higher fee, so miners will confirm both at the same time.
Use CPFP if you received Bitcoin with a low fee and want to speed it up.
If you sent Bitcoin but can’t use RBF, CPFP may work if you have an unconfirmed change output available.
A mempool (short for “memory pool”) is a temporary holding area where unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions wait before being added to a block. Each Bitcoin node has its own mempool, and miners select transactions from it based on fee priority — higher-fee transactions get confirmed first.
mempool.space is a block explorer that lets you view the Bitcoin network’s mempool in real time, including current fee estimates and transaction status. It’s a useful tool for checking whether your transaction will likely be confirmed soon.
Other Bitcoin block explorers include:
Trezor’s Block Explorer — Lets you check transaction status and block details.
Blockchain.com Explorer — One of the oldest and most widely used Bitcoin explorers.
BTCScan — A simple Bitcoin explorer for checking transactions and addresses.
Tip: If you want to track a specific transaction, find the TXID in Trezor Suite and paste it into a block explorer like mempool.space or Trezor’s explorer.
Mempool Accelerator™ is a third-party service that lets you pay miners directly to confirm your transaction faster.
Works even if you’re not the sender or receiver of the transaction.
Useful when RBF or CPFP isn’t an option.
Always check the service’s terms and fees before using it.
For more details, visit the Mempool Accelerator page.
No, these techniques also work for other UTXO-based cryptocurrencies, including:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Litecoin (LTC)
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Bitcoin SV (BSV)
Dogecoin (DOGE)
For Ethereum and similar blockchains, fee bumping works differently, usually by increasing the gas price of a pending transaction.
Understanding Bitcoin fees and managing your wallet can feel overwhelming at first. Whether you need help configuring your device, optimizing transaction fees, or securing your backup, our Trezor experts are here to guide you.
Get personalized, step-by-step support with a 1:1 Trezor Expert Onboarding Session and start using your hardware wallet with confidence.
Book Your Trezor Hardware Wallet Setup Session to take full control of your Bitcoin today!
Satoshi Labs
No comments yet