<blockquote>
  <p>If I use a multi-sig wallet for Bitcoin, and require a total of 2/3 keys to sign a transaction, does that mean that the total time would be limited to the time to confirm 2 signatures ie ~ 20 minutes if done simultaneously?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>No, not at all. That is not what a confirmation means or how Bitcoin works at all.</p>

<p>A confirmation means that a transaction has been included in a valid block. It has nothing to do with the number of signatures. A multisig transaction just means that the transaction requires more signatures in order to be valid. The signatures are contained within the transaction itself.</p>

<p>The time to confirm a multisig transaction is the same as the time it takes to confirm a non-multisig transaction assuming everything else is the same (i.e. same fee rate).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>And would it cost the same as a regular Bitcoin transaction?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It costs more because the transaction contains more data. Thus the absolute fee will be higher, although the fee rate will still be the same.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-03T23:35:50.983Z
2018-02-03T23:35:50.983Z
Ava Chow
<p>If I use a multi-sig wallet for Bitcoin, and require a total of 2/3 keys to sign a transaction, does that mean that the total time would be limited to the time to confirm 2 signatures ie ~ 20 minutes if done simultaneously?  And would it cost the same as a regular Bitcoin transaction?</p>

<multi-signature>
How long does multi-sig take?
skunkwerk
# How long does multi-sig take?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-03)

If I use a multi-sig wallet for Bitcoin, and require a total of 2/3 keys to sign a transaction, does that mean that the total time would be limited to the time to confirm 2 signatures ie ~ 20 minutes if done simultaneously? And would it cost the same as a regular Bitcoin transaction?

**Tags:** multi-signature


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-02-03. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

> If I use a multi-sig wallet for Bitcoin, and require a total of 2/3 keys to sign a transaction, does that mean that the total time would be limited to the time to confirm 2 signatures ie ~ 20 minutes if done simultaneously?

No, not at all. That is not what a confirmation means or how Bitcoin works at all.

A confirmation means that a transaction has been included in a valid block. It has nothing to do with the number of signatures. A multisig transaction just means that the transaction requires more signatures in order to be valid. The signatures are contained within the transaction itself.

The time to confirm a multisig transaction is the same as the time it takes to confirm a non-multisig transaction assuming everything else is the same (i.e. same fee rate).

> And would it cost the same as a regular Bitcoin transaction?

It costs more because the transaction contains more data. Thus the absolute fee will be higher, although the fee rate will still be the same.


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