A confirmation on a cryptocurrency blockchain occurs when the transaction in question is included in a block that is added to the blockchain. For example, if you make a transaction now, it will be included in the block that’s being added to the blockchain next.
For Bitcoin, this takes around 10 minutes, which is what is known as “block time”, and can be pushed out longer due to various reasons, like mining difficulty and high network usage (This is why Luno uses dynamic send fees to ensure your transaction is included in the next block).
These confirmations are counted from the block that has been added. For example, if my transaction was included in block 100 and there are now 110 blocks, the transaction then has 11 confirmations. It’s counted from the block the transaction is included in.
Note
Luno has certain requirements for receiving cryptocurrency that has been set out below. This may be why your transaction isn’t immediately showing in your Luno wallet or your external wallet.
|
Name |
Block Time |
Blockchain Explorer* |
Confirmations required to receive to Luno |
Minimum expected receive time to Luno** |
| Aave (AAVE) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Algorand (ALGO) | 3 seconds | allo.info | 10 | 30 seconds |
| ApeCoin (APE) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Avalanche (AVAX) | 2-3 seconds | snowtrace.io | 20 | 1 minute |
| Axie Infinity (AXS) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Bitcoin (BTC) or (XBT) | 10 minutes | blockchain.com | 3 | 30 minutes |
| Bitcoin Cash (BCH) | 10 minutes | blockchain.com | 12 | 2 hours |
| Cardano (ADA) | 20 seconds | explorer.cardano.org | 15 | 5 minutes |
| Chainlink (LINK) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Cosmos (ATOM) | 6-7 seconds | mintscan.io/cosmos | 1 | < 10 seconds |
| Curve (CRV) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Dogecoin (DOGE) | 1 minute | dogechain.info | 40 | 40 minutes |
| Ethereum (ETH) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| The Graph (GRT) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Immutable X (IMX) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Litecoin (LTC) | 2.5 minutes | blockchair.com/litecoin | 12 | 30 minutes |
| Maker (MKR) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Polygon (MATIC) | 2 seconds | polygonscan.com | 300 | 10 minutes |
| The Sandbox (SAND) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Solana (SOL) | 0.4 seconds | explorer.solana.com | 1 | < 1 minute |
| Synthetix (SNX) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Tether (USDT) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| Tron (TRX) | 3 seconds | tronscan.org | 20 | 1 minute |
| Uniswap (UNI) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| USD Coin (USDC) | 30 seconds | etherscan.io | 30 | 15 minutes |
| XRP (XRP) | 3 seconds | xrpscan.com | 2 | 5 minutes |
* Remember, all these currencies exist on separate networks.
** High network activity can push this out further.