Crypto Deposits: Unraveling the Mystery Behind the Speed
The process of depositing cryptocurrency at a casino is often shrouded in mystery, leading to confusion and frustration. But what actually happens when you make a crypto deposit?
According to published protocol documentation and exchange help pages, the entire process takes place in four stages: broadcast and propagation (which takes seconds), mempool queue (dependent on fee rate and network activity), block inclusion and confirmations (determined by the chain's block cadence), and crediting threshold set by the receiving site.
The key takeaway is that most waits come from the sending end, which is under your control. For instance, if you send Bitcoin on-chain versus using Lightning, the experience can be vastly different. The same asset moves at different speeds depending on the network used.
For context, New Zealand's bank rails upgraded in May 2023 to allow for same-day payment processing on weekends and public holidays. Meanwhile, crypto networks like Solana (SPL) have an average block time of just 400 milliseconds, making it one of the fastest options available.