<p>In addition to Mark S.'s answer, since Bitcoin Core 0.12 there actually is an expiration in the mempool, which evicts unconfirmed transactions after N hours, where N is set by <code>-mempoolexpiry</code>, and defaults to 72 hours.</p>

<p>This is not a reliable feature, as wallets (and really, anyone) can rebroadcast the transaction, but helps keeping the mempool fresh.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-04-28T18:49:43.237Z
As far as I can tell, the default value for `-mempoolexpiry` was increased to 336 hours (14 days) in December 2016.
Murch
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-11T17:07:17.340Z
@Murch link: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/9312
Pat Myron
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-03T07:22:34.237Z
2016-03-03T07:22:34.237Z
Pieter Wuille
<p>The newest version of bitcoin core 0.12 introduced a feature called replace by fee. This can be used to issue a transaction with a higher fee spending coins that have not yet been picked up in a block.  This can be used to send funds in a stuck transaction to a new address and the hope is that by including a fee this will get picked up by the miners faster than a transaction with no fees.</p>

<p>Here is a link to the tools used to create this kind of transaction:
<a href="https://github.com/petertodd/replace-by-fee-tools" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/petertodd/replace-by-fee-tools</a></p>

<p>As you correctly noted there is no timeframe in which a transaction expires.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-02T23:18:23.700Z
2016-03-02T23:18:23.700Z
Mark S.
<p>Sometimes confirmation process is very slow. I think that is because of the price of the fee. In that time, is it possible to cancel the unconfirmed transaction and re-send with higher transaction fee?  Are there any expiry features? E.g. the transaction will be canceled after 7 days?</p>

<p>As far as I read other posts, the answer is NO. If so, do I need to wait for the confirmation forever? For instance, when I set a zero transaction fee accidentally.</p>

<unconfirmed-transactions><mempool><child-pays-for-parent><replace-by-fee>
Do unconfirmed transactions expire after some time?
zono
# Do unconfirmed transactions expire after some time?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-02)

Sometimes confirmation process is very slow. I think that is because of the price of the fee. In that time, is it possible to cancel the unconfirmed transaction and re-send with higher transaction fee? Are there any expiry features? E.g. the transaction will be canceled after 7 days?

As far as I read other posts, the answer is NO. If so, do I need to wait for the confirmation forever? For instance, when I set a zero transaction fee accidentally.

**Tags:** unconfirmed-transactions, mempool, child-pays-for-parent, replace-by-fee


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-03-02. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

The newest version of bitcoin core 0.12 introduced a feature called replace by fee. This can be used to issue a transaction with a higher fee spending coins that have not yet been picked up in a block. This can be used to send funds in a stuck transaction to a new address and the hope is that by including a fee this will get picked up by the miners faster than a transaction with no fees.

Here is a link to the tools used to create this kind of transaction:
<https://github.com/petertodd/replace-by-fee-tools>

As you correctly noted there is no timeframe in which a transaction expires.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2016-03-03. Score: 9

In addition to username_4.'s answer, since Bitcoin Core 0.12 there actually is an expiration in the mempool, which evicts unconfirmed transactions after N hours, where N is set by `-mempoolexpiry`, and defaults to 72 hours.

This is not a reliable feature, as wallets (and really, anyone) can rebroadcast the transaction, but helps keeping the mempool fresh.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: As far as I can tell, the default value for `-mempoolexpiry` was increased to 336 hours (14 days) in December 2016.  
> **username_3**: @username_2 link: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/9312  

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