Share this article
BitGo Launches 'Instant' Bitcoin Transaction Tool
BitGo has launched a new service that aims to allow clients to accept transactions prior to their official confirmation on the bitcoin blockchain.
By Pete Rizzo
Updated Apr 10, 2024, 3:00 a.m. Published Jan 19, 2016, 11:00 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Bitcoin security firm BitGo has launched a new service that aims to allow clients to accept bitcoin transactions prior to their official confirmation on the blockchain.
Called BitGo Instant, the offering aims to allow users to accept transactions more quickly, while guarding against the possibility that funds could be 'double spent' or otherwise altered before they settle against the bitcoin ledger.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
At launch, BitGo said major exchanges including Bitstamp, Bitfinex and Kraken had already signed on as users of the service. Other notable partners include altcoin trading service ShapeShift and the e-commerce app Fold.
In interview, BitGo CTO Ben Davenport said the service will help bitcoin companies better offer the user experience their consumers expect from the digital currency, which has been widely advertised as fast and free, yet can take 10 minutes and sometimes much more to be confirmed by the network.
Davenport further framed the service as one that would appeal to active bitcoin traders, who he said could take advantage of the ability to move funds more quickly.
Davenport told CoinDesk:
"This is about the speed, it doesn't change the security. We're trying to work around the shortcomings in bitcoin to provide finality in settlement, a process that today can take as long as 120 minutes."
The service, BitGo noted, follows notable instances in which industry startups like Coinbase and ShapeShift have been the victims of double-spending. Davenport described the offering as one that would allow these firms to approve transactions quickly while receiving receiving a type of assurance should payments go awry.
"When someone wants to send an instant transaction, we do a certain amount of risk checks. We create a guarantee that is cryptographically signed by us that rides along with the transaction," Davenport said, adding:
"Recipients who fail to receive funds can file a claim and we'll back it fully."
When a user executes a BitGo Instant transaction, BitGo co-signs the transaction with one of three of the keys in its multi-signature wallet. A third key is held by a key recovery service.
Davenport noted, however, the service is built to work without BitGo wallets, adding that "anyone can join to accept".
Under the service terms, users will not pay to receive money, though senders pay a 0.1% fee on transactions above 1 BTC.
Disclaimer: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in BitGo.
Transaction image via Shutterstock
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Bitcoin hash rate slides during U.S. winter storm while markets shrug off mining disruption
The temporary loss of mining power underscores academic concerns that geographic and pool concentration can magnify infrastructure failures, though markets showed little immediate reaction.
What to know:
- Bitcoin’s hashrate fell about 10 percent during a U.S. winter storm, underscoring how local power disruptions can strain the network’s capacity to process transactions.
- Researchers have shown that concentrated mining, as seen in a 2021 regional outage in China, can lead to slower block times, higher fees and broader market disruptions.
- With a few large pools now controlling most of Bitcoin’s hashrate, the network is increasingly vulnerable to localized infrastructure failures, even as the price of BTC remains largely unaffected in the short term.
Top Stories
