Sending bitcoin to someone or transferring bitcoin from one wallet to another is very easy and it can be done in a few minutes. If you are new to cryptocurrencies, then you should have a complete understanding on how bitcoin transfers take place. You should also know what to do in case the transaction fails and what the role of fees is in sending bitcoins. We will discuss everything you need to know to transfer bitcoins between wallets.
How To Transfer Bitcoins
First you need to have a funded bitcoin wallet and the receiver address. You have to copy and paste the recipient’s address in the send field of the bitcoin wallet. Write the amount of bitcoins that you want to send and press the send button.
The wallet will ask for your confirmation and will send the bitcoins after you confirm. Always remember to double check the recipient address after pasting it in the send field. You will lose your bitcoins forever if you send them to a wrong address.
When transaction confirms, the recipient will receive the bitcoins. You can see the transaction on the blockchain explorer (https://www.blockchain.com/explorer). You can also keep tab or follow its progress there.
Minimum transaction Fee
When you send bitcoins, a network fee is deducted which is called transaction fee. Most wallets will send bitcoin with a default fee which could be very high sometimes especially if you are sending a small amount of money. You can set the fee to a lower amount manually if you are using desktop and hardware wallets but remember setting the fee too low can cause the network to take a very long time in confirming the transactions. In such cases, it would take a few hours to even days.
Possible Causes of Transaction Failure Error
Sometimes you send bitcoins but the transaction fails. There could be multiple reasons for this. You might have used a very low fee or no fee at all. Network congestion increases tx fees.
How To Revert A Failed Transaction
When your transaction fails, there is no need to panic. It will not appear on the blockchain and the amount which you have sent, will be returned to your wallet. This means that the sender gets the funds back in their wallet.
Now you can again send the bitcoins to the recipient wallet but make sure you increase the fee to the recommended value. If you are not sure, set it to default so that your transaction goes through and does not fail for a second time.
If you are an advanced user, you can consult https://bitcoinfees.net/ to get an idea on the fee structure at runtime.