<p>The time it takes for a fee-less transaction to be confirmed can <strong>vary vastly</strong>. While sometimes you're lucky enough to have it confirmed <strong>within the next block</strong> (as if you had paid the standard fee), other times it may <strong>take days</strong>.</p>

<p>This depends on the current <strong>transaction volume</strong> and miners' level of <strong>altruism</strong>. Most notably though, it depends on the number of <a href="/questions/845/what-are-bitcoin-days-destroyed">Bitcoin Days Destroyed</a>. Older coins (coming from older transactions) are conventionally assigned <strong>higher priority</strong>, and thus will generally be included in a block sooner.</p>

<p>As your transaction is pending (unconfirmed), the coins it is spending are getting older and older every day, so the chance of finally getting confirmed is slightly <strong>increasing overtime</strong>. This should prevent your coins from becoming completely unaccessible, stuck in the void.</p>

<p>No transaction can be rejected though, there's just no such thing in the protocol.</p>

<p>Finally, if this happens to you and you're not willing to spend some arbitrary time in uncertainty waiting for the confirmation, you can perhaps try to <a href="/questions/26926/could-any-standard-fee-transaction-be-double-spent-by-using-a-higher-fee/">create a double spend transaction with higher fees</a>, hoping it would be picked up by a non-standard (though pragmatic) miner.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-28T10:06:52.140Z
Thanks knapo, great answer. I can add that in my experience it's mostly 24-48 hours before the first confirmations.
Henry
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-22T10:42:08.377Z
2014-09-22T10:42:08.377Z
knaperek
<p>I have a problem with a transaction that has 0 btc fees:
<a href="https://blockchain.info/tx/256301465d77affb6bc7087432a9130db48dd64efa28b0460fb674eda704f382" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://blockchain.info/tx/256301465d77affb6bc7087432a9130db48dd64efa28b0460fb674eda704f382</a></p>

<p>From what I understand, eventually this transaction will either be confirmed or rejected. My question is: how long will this take, and is there anything I can do to speed up this process?</p>

<p>(There is an interesting answer to this question here <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1503/what-happens-if-my-transaction-is-not-accepted-because-i-did-not-pay-fees">What happens if my transaction is not accepted because I did not pay fees?</a> but it's two years old and assumes that one is running the official bitcoin client, which I'm not) </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-10T10:23:15.040Z
I have seen zero fee transactions to be included in blocks within 6 - 48 hours. But I don't know any data source where to check avg and median times.
Mikko Ohtamaa
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-10T11:40:37.657Z
Thanks for your reply, Mikko. In your experience, is it that zero fee transactions always get confirmed eventually, even if their network propagation is at 0%?
Henry
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-10T12:11:38.597Z
I have not yet seen a transaction which didn't eventually come through.
Mikko Ohtamaa
<transactions><transaction-fees><confirmations>
How long does it take for a transaction with 0 fees to be confirmed or rejected?
Henry
# How long does it take for a transaction with 0 fees to be confirmed or rejected?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-10)

I have a problem with a transaction that has 0 btc fees:
<https://blockchain.info/tx/256301465d77affb6bc7087432a9130db48dd64efa28b0460fb674eda704f382>

From what I understand, eventually this transaction will either be confirmed or rejected. My question is: how long will this take, and is there anything I can do to speed up this process?

(There is an interesting answer to this question here [What happens if my transaction is not accepted because I did not pay fees?](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/1503/what-happens-if-my-transaction-is-not-accepted-because-i-did-not-pay-fees) but it's two years old and assumes that one is running the official bitcoin client, which I'm not)

**Tags:** transactions, transaction-fees, confirmations

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I have seen zero fee transactions to be included in blocks within 6 - 48 hours. But I don't know any data source where to check avg and median times.  
> **username_0**: Thanks for your reply, username_1. In your experience, is it that zero fee transactions always get confirmed eventually, even if their network propagation is at 0%?  
> **username_1**: I have not yet seen a transaction which didn't eventually come through.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-09-22. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

The time it takes for a fee-less transaction to be confirmed can **vary vastly**. While sometimes you're lucky enough to have it confirmed **within the next block** (as if you had paid the standard fee), other times it may **take days**.

This depends on the current **transaction volume** and miners' level of **altruism**. Most notably though, it depends on the number of [Bitcoin Days Destroyed](/questions/845/what-are-bitcoin-days-destroyed). Older coins (coming from older transactions) are conventionally assigned **higher priority**, and thus will generally be included in a block sooner.

As your transaction is pending (unconfirmed), the coins it is spending are getting older and older every day, so the chance of finally getting confirmed is slightly **increasing overtime**. This should prevent your coins from becoming completely unaccessible, stuck in the void.

No transaction can be rejected though, there's just no such thing in the protocol.

Finally, if this happens to you and you're not willing to spend some arbitrary time in uncertainty waiting for the confirmation, you can perhaps try to [create a double spend transaction with higher fees](/questions/26926/could-any-standard-fee-transaction-be-double-spent-by-using-a-higher-fee/), hoping it would be picked up by a non-standard (though pragmatic) miner.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Thanks knapo, great answer. I can add that in my experience it's mostly 24-48 hours before the first confirmations.  

---

