How many block confirmations do different chains wait for before a swap finishes

07 September 2026

A swap finishes when the receiving chain has seen enough subsequent blocks built on top of the transaction’s block. That number varies by chain: Bitcoin typically waits 3 confirmations, Ethereum waits 12 - 15, Litecoin waits 6, and Monero waits 10. The exact counts are set by the exchanger, not by the chains themselves, and they reflect a trade-off between speed and finality.

Why confirmations exist

A confirmed block can still be undone if a competing chain of blocks grows longer and the network accepts it instead. This is called a reorganization, or reorg. The more blocks are built on top of a transaction, the harder it becomes to reverse. Confirmations are a waiting game: each new block adds computational cost to any attempt to rewrite history.

Different chains have different block times and different security assumptions. A chain with fast blocks, like Solana or BNB Smart Chain, can afford to wait for many confirmations in a short wall-clock time. A chain with slow blocks, like Bitcoin, cannot. The exchanger picks a number that balances user patience against the risk of accepting a transaction that later vanishes.

Common confirmation counts by chain

Bitcoin - 3 confirmations. Bitcoin’s average block time is about 10 minutes, so 3 confirmations take roughly 30 minutes. Some exchanges used to wait 6, but modern practice has settled on 3 for most swap services. The risk of a 3‑block reorg on Bitcoin is extremely low.

Ethereum - 12 to 15 confirmations. Ethereum blocks come every 12 - 15 seconds, so 12 confirmations take about 2.5 to 3 minutes. The shift to proof‑of‑stake made finality faster, but the exchanger still waits for a dozen blocks to be safe against short reorganisations.

Litecoin - 6 confirmations. Litecoin targets a 2.5‑minute block time, so 6 confirmations take about 15 minutes. Litecoin is often treated as a faster Bitcoin, and the confirmation count reflects that.

Monero - 10 confirmations. Monero blocks arrive every 2 minutes, so 10 confirmations take about 20 minutes. Monero’s privacy features make it harder to detect reorganisations quickly, so the exchanger waits longer relative to block time.

Solana - 32 confirmations. Solana’s block time is under a second, but the exchanger waits for a “confirmed” slot that is equivalent to about 32 blocks. This happens in a few seconds.

BNB Smart Chain - 15 confirmations. Blocks come every 3 seconds, so 15 confirmations take under a minute.

Polygon - 64 confirmations. Polygon blocks are fast (2 - 3 seconds), but the exchanger uses a higher count because Polygon occasionally experiences deeper reorganisations than Ethereum.

Tron - 19 confirmations. Tron blocks every 3 seconds, so 19 confirmations take under a minute.

Dogecoin - 6 confirmations. Dogecoin’s block time is 1 minute, so 6 confirmations take about 6 minutes.

Ripple - No confirmations in the blockchain sense. Ripple uses a consensus protocol that finalises transactions in a few seconds. The exchanger treats a validated ledger entry as final.

What changes these numbers

The exchanger can adjust confirmation counts at any time. If a chain has suffered a recent reorg, the exchanger might raise the count temporarily. If the chain’s hash rate or validator set has grown more reliable, the count might drop. The numbers listed above are typical, but they are not fixed.

Network congestion does not change the confirmation count, but it does change how long it takes to get into a block in the first place. That is covered on the sibling page about why swaps take 30 seconds sometimes and 20 minutes other times.

What to do while confirmations accumulate

You do not need to do anything. The exchanger checks for new blocks automatically. Closing the page or turning off your device will not interrupt the swap. If the transaction has not been seen after a long time, check the hub page “Why a swap sits pending and what to check” for things that can go wrong before the first confirmation.

The confirmation count is one of several variables that determine swap time. The others - network fees, mempool congestion, and the speed of the sending chain - are discussed in the sibling pages. This number is simply the last gate: once the receiving chain has built enough blocks, the swap finishes.

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