Tether has improved and expanded, and it is now possible to transfer USDT using various blockchains such as Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon. Transaction times will vary depending on the blockchain as well as network congestion and the recipient wallet address.
Key Takeaways
- USDT transaction times depend on the blockchain
- USDT transfers on Solana and Polygon take less than 20 seconds
- USDT transfers on Ethereum take 1 - 10 minutes
- USDT transfers on Omni take up to 2 hours
- Increasing gas fee can speed up USDT transaction
USDT Transaction | What is it?
Since USDT doesn't operate on its own blockchain, to transfer USDT from one wallet to another will require the use of another blockchain such as Polygon or Ethereum. One of the most common ways that USDT is transferred is on the Ethereum network, where USDT ERC-20 is used. You may have also heard of USDT TRC-20, which operates on the TRON blockchain. USDT ERC-20 tokens must be sent to Ethereum addresses, they cannot be sent to a TRON address, and USDT TRC-20 coins cannot be sent to an Ethereum address.
How long does it take to transfer USDT?
There are various factors that affect the speed of a USDT transfer, but one of the most important is the blockchain. If you use one of the newer Proof of Stake blockchains (Polygon and Solana), you will receive the fastest USDT transfer time, typically less than 15-20 seconds.
On the other hand, transferring USDT on the Omni network is really slow, in particular because the congestion is usually high. A USDT transaction on this blockchain can take up to 2 hours.
If you are transferring USDT on the commonly used Ethereum blockchain, USDT ERC-20 coins will usually be transferred within 1 to 10 minutes. However, increased network congestion can greatly increase the transfer time, even exceeding 30 minutes.
Factors that Affect Transaction Speed
Besides the blockchain, the time it takes to transfer USDT can be affected by the following.
Network Congestion
As mentioned briefly above, the number of users on a network will have a significant affect on the transfer speed. However, the magnitude of the affect on the transfer time will depend on which blockchain you are using. For example, on Proof of Stake blockchains that are already quick, any congestion will only delay the transfer by seconds, whereas on the Ethereum blockchain, the delay is counted in minutes.
Recipient Wallet Address
This might be surprising to some, but the wallet that you are sending the USDT to can affect the transfer speed. This is because it is up to the wallet provider to determine how many blockchain confirmations they require on the blockchain before the USDT transfer can be made. The higher the number of confirmations needed, the longer the transfer will take.
For example, Crypto.com requires 12 confirmations, Coinbase requires 14 confirmations, and Kraken requires 20 confirmations.
What is a blockchain confirmation?
A blockchain confirmation is the process by which a new block is added to the blockchain after being verified by a network of nodes. Each block contains a set of transactions, and once a block is added to the blockchain, the transactions in that block are considered confirmed and are considered final and irreversible.
The process of confirmation involves a network of nodes that compete to solve complex mathematical problems in order to add a new block to the blockchain. Once a node successfully solves the problem, it broadcasts the new block to the network, which verifies and adds it to the blockchain.
The number of confirmations required for a transaction to be considered fully confirmed varies depending on the blockchain and the level of security required. In general, the more confirmations a transaction has, the more secure it is considered to be. This is because the more confirmations a transaction has, the harder it is for an attacker to reverse the transaction or manipulate the blockchain.
How to transfer USDT quickly?
If you are in a rush to transfer USDT, you can try to speed things up by paying a higher gas fee. This incentivizes validators to process the transaction first, but it does not guarantee a quicker transfer.
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