A new Bitcoin block of transactions is mined roughly every ten minutes, and each of these blocks have a limited amount of space. Due to this limited transaction capacity on the network, the transactions that have higher fees attached to them tend to get processed more quickly. This is because miners will prefer to mine the transactions that offer a greater financial incentive.
When there are a lot of transactions happening on the network and blocks are full, transactions with relatively low fees attached to them can get delayed as miners prefer to process the transactions with higher fees. Thankfully, there are various mechanisms, such as replace-by-fee (RBF), which allow Bitcoin users to increase the fee attached to a transaction after it has already been sent.
Speed up transactions in Blockstream App
1. To speed up a transaction you previously sent in the Blockstream App, start by moving from the Home tab to the Transact tab via the navigation bar at the bottom of the screen.
2. On the Transact tab, you will be able to find your unconfirmed transaction. Click on the transaction to view the details associated with it. On the Transaction Details page, you can tap the Increase Fee button near the bottom of the screen.
3. On the next screen, you will be presented with a process that looks similar to sending a normal transaction. Not only can you increase the fee associated with the transaction, but you can also alter the amount being sent. To increase the speed of the transaction, tap the Change Speed hyperlink in the Network Fee section near the bottom of the screen. This will bring up a small pop-up menu that offers preconfigured speed options in the form of slow, medium, or fast. Additionally, a custom fee can be set by tapping the Custom text below those three options.
4. Once your new fee has been set, you will be returned back to the previous screen for sending the transaction. Click Next at the bottom of the screen.
5. Finally, you will be brought to the final step where you confirm the new details of the transaction and send the revised payment to the network. This is done by sliding the arrow at the bottom of the screen to the right. After the revised transaction has been submitted to the network, you will receive a message that indicates the transaction has been successfully sent.