Bitcoin Transaction Time & Cost Calculator
Transaction Details
How It Works
The Liquid Network enables faster Bitcoin transactions through a sidechain approach. While Bitcoin's main chain processes transactions every 10 minutes, Liquid processes them every 60 seconds. Learn more about how this affects your transactions.
Transaction Comparison
Estimated Time
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Transaction Cost
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Key Differences
- Main Chain Block Time: 10 minutes
- Main Chain Confirmation Time: 60+ minutes (6 confirmations)
- Liquid Block Time: 60 seconds
- Liquid Confirmation Time: 2 minutes (2 confirmations)
Bitcoin’s main chain is secure, but slow. Transactions take at least 10 minutes per block, and confirming a payment can take over an hour. For traders, institutions, and anyone moving large amounts of Bitcoin, that’s not practical. Enter the Liquid Network - a sidechain built to solve these exact problems without touching Bitcoin’s core rules.
What Is the Liquid Network?
The Liquid Network is a Bitcoin sidechain launched in October 2018 by Blockstream. It’s not a new cryptocurrency. It’s not an altcoin. It’s Bitcoin - just moved to a faster, more private blockchain that stays locked 1-to-1 with Bitcoin on the main chain.
When you send Bitcoin to Liquid, it gets locked on Bitcoin’s main chain. In return, you get an equal amount of L-BTC - Liquid Bitcoin - on the sidechain. You can send L-BTC instantly between users, trade it, or use it to issue other assets. When you want your Bitcoin back, you send L-BTC to Liquid, and the original BTC is unlocked on the main chain.
This isn’t magic. It’s math and cryptography. The system uses a federation - a group of trusted parties - to verify and confirm transactions. Right now, over 70 institutions like Kraken, Bitfinex, and Coinbase Prime are part of this group. At least 11 of them must sign off on every block for it to be valid. That’s less decentralized than Bitcoin, but it’s way faster and more private.
Why Liquid Is Faster Than Bitcoin
Bitcoin blocks come every 10 minutes. Liquid blocks come every 60 seconds. That means your transaction confirms in 1-2 minutes instead of 60+ minutes.
For institutional traders, this changes everything. Imagine needing to move $5 million in BTC between exchanges. On Bitcoin’s main chain, you’d wait hours. On Liquid, you do it in under 5 minutes. Bitfinex reported that 37% of its Bitcoin trading volume in Q1 2024 happened on Liquid - not because users wanted something new, but because they needed speed.
Speed isn’t the only win. Liquid uses Confidential Transactions, a tech that hides the amount you’re sending. On Bitcoin, anyone can see you sent 10 BTC to someone. On Liquid, they see you sent *some* amount - but not how much. That’s huge for businesses dealing with sensitive trades or large institutional transfers.
Issuing Tokens on Liquid - Stablecoins, Securities, NFTs
Bitcoin can’t issue tokens. You can’t create a USD-backed stablecoin or a stock certificate directly on Bitcoin. Liquid can.
Companies use Liquid to issue tokenized assets. Tether issued $420 million worth of USDT on Liquid as of March 2024. The Swiss exchange SIX Digital Exchange issued $1.2 billion in tokenized equities. Even NFTs have been built on Liquid using the RGB protocol.
These aren’t speculative tokens. These are regulated financial instruments. Liquid gives institutions a way to tokenize real-world assets while still using Bitcoin’s security and liquidity as the base. That’s why Deloitte gave Liquid a 4.2/5 rating for enterprise readiness - it’s one of the few Bitcoin-based tools that banks and asset managers actually use.
How Liquid Compares to Other Bitcoin Solutions
People often compare Liquid to the Lightning Network. They’re both Bitcoin scaling tools, but they solve different problems.
- Lightning is for small, frequent payments - like buying coffee or tipping. It’s decentralized, but you can’t issue tokens or hide amounts.
- Liquid is for large, private, institutional transfers. You can send $10 million with hidden amounts and issue securities. But it’s federated - not fully decentralized.
Compared to other sidechains like Rootstock (RSK), Liquid wins on privacy. RSK lets you run Ethereum smart contracts, but it doesn’t hide transaction amounts. Liquid does. RSK also has a 30-second block time - faster than Liquid - but it has far fewer institutional users and less real-world adoption.
Liquid isn’t trying to be everything. It’s focused: fast, private, asset-friendly Bitcoin transfers for institutions. And it’s working.
Who Uses Liquid - And Why
Most users aren’t retail traders. They’re exchanges, hedge funds, and asset managers.
Here’s how it breaks down:
- Exchanges (89% of activity): Kraken, Bitfinex, and BitMEX use Liquid to move BTC between wallets and settle trades instantly. Kraken processed over $2.1 billion in Liquid transactions in 2023 with zero breaches.
- Stablecoin issuers: Tether, Circle, and others issue USDT on Liquid to avoid Bitcoin’s slow confirmations and public ledgers.
- Securities platforms: SIX Digital Exchange and others use Liquid to tokenize stocks, bonds, and funds.
- Advanced Bitcoin users: A small group of tech-savvy individuals use Liquid for private transfers or to experiment with tokenized assets.
Only 11% of Liquid’s activity comes from individual users. Most people don’t even know it exists - and that’s fine. It’s not meant for them.
Getting Started With Liquid
If you want to use Liquid, you need three things: a compatible wallet, Bitcoin, and patience.
Step 1: Get a Liquid wallet
Popular options:
- Blockstream Green - Free, easy to use, supports both Bitcoin and Liquid.
- Jade - A hardware wallet ($79) that lets you store L-BTC offline.
- AQUA - A web-based wallet with no downloads needed.
Step 2: Peg-in your Bitcoin
This is the tricky part. You can’t just click a button and get L-BTC.
You send BTC to a special address on the Bitcoin chain. Then you wait. Not 10 minutes. Not an hour. 102 confirmations - roughly 17 hours. Only then will your L-BTC appear in your Liquid wallet.
Why so long? Because the federation needs to be absolutely sure the BTC is locked before releasing L-BTC. This prevents double-spending. Blockstream reported 127 cases in Q1 2024 where users got impatient and thought their L-BTC was lost - it wasn’t. They just hadn’t waited long enough.
Step 3: Use your L-BTC
Once you have it, you can send it to anyone else on Liquid - instantly, privately, for pennies. Fees average $0.35 per transaction, compared to $1.50 on Bitcoin. You can also swap it for other assets like USDT or tokenized stocks if your wallet supports it.
Step 4: Peg out
To get Bitcoin back, send L-BTC to a peg-out address. Two Liquid confirmations (about 2 minutes) and your BTC is released on the main chain.
Problems and Criticisms
Liquid isn’t perfect. And it’s not for everyone.
Centralization: The federation model means you’re trusting 11 out of 70 companies. If even one gets hacked or colludes, there’s a risk. Jameson Lopp, CTO of Casa, called it a trade-off: “You’re giving up censorship resistance for speed and privacy.”
No smart contracts: You can’t run DeFi apps or complex logic on Liquid like you can on Ethereum or even RSK. It’s not designed for that.
Learning curve: Most people don’t understand peg-ins. Blockstream’s support team says 32% of help tickets come from users misconfiguring wallets or misunderstanding the 102-confirmation wait.
Regulatory gray zone: In Europe, Liquid-issued assets are regulated under MiCA. In the U.S., the SEC hasn’t said much. That uncertainty scares off some institutions.
What’s Next for Liquid?
Liquid isn’t standing still.
In May 2024, Blockstream announced Liquid v2, coming in Q3 2024. It’ll use Schnorr signatures to shrink transaction sizes by 25% and improve privacy. Taproot assets will roll out in Q4 2024, letting users issue tokens with even better privacy.
The federation added Swissquote and Coinbase Prime in April 2024, making it more globally balanced. And by Q1 2025, Liquid plans to integrate RGB for more advanced token issuance.
Galaxy Digital predicts Liquid’s total value locked (TVL) will hit $3.5 billion by 2026. Right now, it’s at $1.87 billion - still only 0.8% of Bitcoin’s total market cap, but growing fast.
Will Bitcoin ever add Confidential Transactions natively? Maybe. If it does, Liquid’s biggest advantage could fade. But for now, it’s the only live, working solution that gives institutions fast, private, asset-backed Bitcoin transfers.
Final Thoughts
Liquid Network isn’t Bitcoin’s future. It’s Bitcoin’s bridge - to institutions, to regulated finance, to privacy-conscious traders. It doesn’t try to replace Bitcoin. It enhances what Bitcoin can’t do on its own.
If you’re a retail user who just wants to send Bitcoin to a friend? Stick with the main chain. Use Lightning if you need speed for small payments.
If you’re moving large amounts, need privacy, or want to issue tokens tied to Bitcoin? Liquid is the only game in town.
It’s not perfect. It’s not decentralized. But it works - and it’s been working for six years.
What is L-BTC?
L-BTC stands for Liquid Bitcoin. It’s a 1:1 pegged version of Bitcoin that exists on the Liquid sidechain. Every L-BTC is backed by an equivalent amount of Bitcoin locked on the main chain. You can send, receive, and trade L-BTC faster and more privately than Bitcoin, but you can’t use it on the Bitcoin network.
Is Liquid Network decentralized?
No. Liquid uses a federated model with 70+ institutions, and at least 11 of them must sign off on each block. This makes it faster and more efficient than Bitcoin, but it’s not fully decentralized like Bitcoin’s proof-of-work network. You’re trusting a group of known entities, not anonymous miners.
How long does it take to peg in or out?
Pegging in (sending BTC to get L-BTC) requires 102 Bitcoin confirmations, which takes about 17 hours. Pegging out (sending L-BTC to get BTC back) requires only 2 Liquid confirmations - roughly 2 minutes. The long peg-in time ensures security and prevents double-spending.
Can I use Liquid to send Bitcoin to someone who doesn’t use it?
No. L-BTC only works on the Liquid Network. If you send L-BTC to a regular Bitcoin address, the transaction will fail or be lost. You must convert L-BTC back to Bitcoin (peg out) before sending it to someone on the main chain.
Is Liquid safe to use?
Yes, for its intended use. The federation has never been compromised, and Kraken, Bitfinex, and other major exchanges have processed billions in Liquid transactions with zero breaches. But because it’s federated, it’s not as censorship-resistant as Bitcoin. Only use it if you understand the trade-off between speed/privacy and decentralization.
Do I need special software to use Liquid?
Yes. You need a Liquid-compatible wallet like Blockstream Green, Jade, or AQUA. Standard Bitcoin wallets (like Electrum or BlueWallet) can’t handle L-BTC. Make sure your wallet supports Liquid before you start.
What’s the difference between Liquid and the Lightning Network?
Lightning is for fast, small, off-chain payments - think $1 coffee or tips. Liquid is for large, on-chain, private transfers and asset issuance. Lightning is decentralized; Liquid is federated. Lightning can’t issue tokens; Liquid can. They solve different problems.
Can I mine Liquid Bitcoin?
No. Liquid doesn’t use mining. It uses a federation of trusted parties to validate blocks. You can’t earn L-BTC by mining. You can only get it by pegging in Bitcoin or trading for it on exchanges.
Brian Gillespie
November 12, 2025 AT 12:41Liquid’s 17-hour peg-in is a joke. I sent BTC last Tuesday and still haven’t seen my L-BTC. No one warns you about this.
Wayne Dave Arceo
November 12, 2025 AT 19:24You’re all missing the point. Liquid isn’t Bitcoin-it’s a centralized fiat gateway dressed up in crypto clothes. The federation model is a regulatory compliance tool, not a technological advancement. If you’re trusting Kraken and Bitfinex to hold your assets, you’re not using Bitcoin-you’re using a bank with a blockchain logo.
Joanne Lee
November 13, 2025 AT 18:22I appreciate the depth of this breakdown, especially the comparison between Lightning and Liquid. It’s rare to find a clear distinction between the two. I’m curious, though-how does Liquid’s regulatory status in the EU under MiCA affect its adoption in non-EU jurisdictions? Is there a legal precedent being set here that could influence U.S. policy?
Laura Hall
November 13, 2025 AT 22:21ok so i just tried to peg in and my wallet said ‘pending’ for 12 hours and i thought i got scammed 😭 then i read the 102 confirmations thing and i felt like an idiot. but also-why is this so hard to explain?? like, can we just have a pop-up that says ‘HEY YOU’RE WAITING 17 HOURS’ before you click send?? also l-btc is fire for trading but i’ll never use it to send money to my cousin. he’d think i sent him a virus.