How to check that a Bitcoin payment has really arrived

Step 1. Find the transaction hash

The hash (TXID) is 64 characters, the transaction’s number on the network. Get it from your own wallet: open the incoming transaction and copy its ID. You can also check a hash the buyer sent you, but first make sure the recipient in that transaction is exactly your address.

If you can’t see the hash, your Bitcoin address is enough: the explorer will show every incoming payment to it.

Step 2. Open a block explorer

Any public Bitcoin explorer will do, for example mempool.space or blockstream.info. Paste the hash or address into the search bar. Type the explorer’s address yourself or open it from your bookmarks, not from a link the buyer sent: a fake copy of an explorer can show anything.

Step 3. Look at the status

• "Unconfirmed". The transaction is waiting in the queue. You don’t have the money yet, so don’t hand over the goods.
• "1 confirmation" or more. The transaction is in a block. It can no longer be replaced. For large amounts, wait for several confirmations.
• "Replaced". The sender replaced the transaction with another one. The explorer usually links to the new transaction: check who the coins go to now. If not to you, there will be no money.
• The transaction can’t be found. Maybe it never existed (a screenshot or a fake link), or it has already been replaced and the explorer no longer keeps it.

Step 4. Look at the fee

Next to the status the explorer shows the fee rate in satoshis per virtual byte (sat/vB) and, while the transaction is unconfirmed, a rough waiting time. Compare it with the rate the explorer currently recommends for fast inclusion in a block. If the payment paid several times less, it may hang for hours, and all that time it can be replaced. That is a reason to wait for a confirmation, not to hurry.

Step 5. The replaceable mark (RBF)

Some explorers and wallets flag a transaction with an "RBF" badge or the word "replaceable". Such a flag is a warning sign. No flag is no guarantee: today most nodes on the network accept a replacement of any unconfirmed transaction by default. Only a confirmation settles it. Why this is so is explained in the article on how a sender takes back an unconfirmed payment.

Before the deal

Paste the buyer’s Bitcoin address into GuardPay /check. If the address is linked to theft, extortion or sanctions lists, you will know before you hand over the goods.