How to speed up a Bitcoin transaction: 5 methods that actually work

Updated October 2026 · 8 min read

First, diagnose the problem

Almost every stuck Bitcoin transaction has the same cause: its fee rate (satoshis per virtual byte, sat/vB) is lower than what miners currently accept. Miners fill each block with the most profitable transactions, so a low-fee transaction keeps getting skipped while higher-paying ones arrive.

Paste your TXID into our transaction status checker. It shows three numbers that decide what to do next:

• Your fee rate — e.g. 2 sat/vB.
• The next-block rate — e.g. 12 sat/vB right now.
• Your queue position — which projected block your fee falls into.

If your rate is close to the next-block rate, just wait a little. If it is far below, you need to increase the effective fee (RBF or CPFP) or use an accelerator.

Method 1: Replace-by-Fee (RBF) — best if you are the sender

RBF lets the sender broadcast a new version of the same payment with a higher fee. Miners take the better-paying version and the old one disappears. It's usually the cheapest fix because you only pay the difference in fee.

Most modern wallets have a button for it: “Bump fee”, “Increase fee” or “Speed up”. Since Bitcoin Core 28, nodes relay replacements by default (full RBF), so it now works even if the original didn't explicitly signal RBF — as long as your wallet lets you create the replacement.

You can't use RBF if you are the receiver, if you sent from an exchange, or if your wallet simply has no fee-bump option. Full walkthrough: Replace-by-Fee explained.

Method 2: Child-Pays-for-Parent (CPFP) — best if you are the receiver

If you control an output of the stuck transaction (you received the coins, or there's change back to you), you can spend it in a new “child” transaction with a high fee. Miners evaluate parent and child together, so to earn the child's fee they must mine the parent too.

The child must pay enough to lift the average fee rate of both transactions to the market level. Our CPFP calculator computes the exact amount. CPFP gets expensive when the parent is large or very underpaid — then an accelerator is often cheaper. Details: CPFP guide.

Method 3: Use a Bitcoin transaction accelerator

An accelerator helps when you can't (or don't want to) touch the transaction yourself — typical with exchange withdrawals, hardware wallets, multisig, wallets without fee bumping, or payments you received but can't spend.

A premium accelerator pays mining pools “out-of-band” — outside the transaction — to include your transaction in their blocks. The transaction itself does not change. With BTC CONFIRM premium you paste the TXID, choose a speed package from $20 (confirmed within 1 hour) to $200 (within 10 minutes), pay with BTC, USDT, USDC or ETH, and the order page shows progress until it's confirmed.

Method 4: Rebroadcast the transaction (free)

Sometimes a transaction isn't stuck because of its fee but because it never propagated well — your wallet's node was poorly connected, or mempools dropped it during a congestion spike. Rebroadcasting re-sends the signed transaction to more nodes.

Our free accelerator rebroadcasts by TXID to several nodes and explorers at once; if explorers no longer know the transaction, paste its raw hex into the push transaction tool. Rebroadcasting never raises the fee, so if your fee rate is far below the market it won't make miners prefer it.

Method 5: Wait — or let it drop

Bitcoin congestion comes in waves. Fees usually fall at weekends and during quieter hours, and low-fee transactions often confirm then. If you are not in a hurry and the fee is at least the network minimum, waiting costs nothing.

If a transaction waits long enough, nodes eventually evict it (by default after two weeks, or earlier when their mempool is full). The coins never left your wallet, so once it's forgotten everywhere you can send again with a proper fee. Be careful: anyone holding the signed transaction can still rebroadcast it, so prefer RBF to “cancel” it properly. More: unconfirmed for days — what happens.

Which method should you use?

Not sure? Check your TXID — the checker recommends an option based on your actual fee and the live mempool.