How long a transfer takes
Three things set the wait. Only one of them is the chain you are sending from. Block time is the floor, the number of confirmations your recipient insists on is the multiplier, and on a cross-chain move the slower of the two chains sets the pace.
Block time is the floor, not the answer
Tron and BNB Chain produce a block roughly every three seconds, Solana in under a second, TON in about five, Ethereum in twelve, Bitcoin about every ten minutes. That is how long until your transfer is in a block, not how long until whoever is receiving it agrees that it happened.
Confirmations are somebody else’s policy
Exchanges wait for a number of blocks before crediting, and each picks its own. The same Bitcoin deposit is credited after one confirmation at one venue and six at another: ten minutes versus an hour, with nothing different happening on the chain. If a deposit is slow, this is usually why.
A route waits on the slower end
Moving USDT from Solana to Bitcoin does not take a second because Solana is fast. The quote shows the estimate for the pair, and the pair is governed by whichever side is slower.
When something really is stuck
On a fee-market chain like Bitcoin or Ethereum, a transfer priced below what the market is clearing can sit unconfirmed for hours. That is a pricing problem, not a lost transfer, and it resolves when demand falls. On the fixed-fee chains here it does not happen.
The estimate is an estimate
A quote gives you the expected time for the pair under current conditions. It is not a guarantee, because no part of the path is under anyone’s control: blocks arrive when they arrive, and the far end credits when its policy says so. Treat a number that is double the estimate as normal and a number ten times it as worth checking.
How to check instead of guessing
Every settled transfer has a hash and a chain. Put the hash into that chain’s explorer and you will see the truth, confirmed, pending or never broadcast, without asking anyone. If it shows confirmed and the recipient still has nothing, the wait belongs to them, and that is a different conversation with different people.
Read next
Several wallets in one account, unlinked on-chain
Hold as many wallets as you need inside one Telegram account. Their addresses are not linked on-chain, so paying from one tells nobody about the others. Send to a @username or to any address.
Questions
Why is my exchange deposit slower than the block time?
The exchange is waiting for a number of confirmations it chose. That policy, not the chain, sets your wait.
How long does a cross-chain move take?
As long as the slower of the two chains needs. The quote shows the estimate for your specific pair before you sign.
My transfer has not confirmed in an hour, is it lost?
On Bitcoin or Ethereum it is most likely priced below the market and waiting. It is not lost; it is queued.