Two exchanges, five networks, November 8, 2026
How long does an exchange make you wait? Exchange Kraken’s confirmation table, last updated October 22, 2026, and exchange Gemini’s deposit article gave these requirements when both were read on November 8, 2026, with each exchange’s own time estimate in parentheses.
| Network | Kraken | Gemini |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 3 (about 45 minutes) | 3 (about 30 minutes) |
| Ethereum | no count shown (about 20 minutes) | 64 (about 12 minutes) |
| Polygon | 250 for USDC (about 25 minutes) | 32 (about 1 minute) |
| Dogecoin | 40 (about 40 minutes) | 60 (60 to 75 minutes) |
| Solana | none listed (near-instant) | 32 (about 12.8 seconds) |
Polygon shows the largest gap in block counts. A USDC deposit on that network waits for 250 blocks at Kraken and 32 at Gemini, which Gemini applies to tokens as well as to the network’s own coin.
Why the counts differ
Kraken’s own FAQ gives the reason for waiting at all. Funds are not credited until enough confirmations have taken place, “to avoid the risks of double spending,” and more confirmations make a transaction more permanent.
On Bitcoin that permanence grows block by block. The Bitcoin developer guide says a transaction paying a sufficient fee needs 10 minutes on average for its first confirmation, and it suggests at least six confirmations for high-value payments while calling that number “somewhat arbitrary.”
Kraken’s FAQ works from a 15-minute average block instead. Three blocks at 15 minutes make its 45, while three at the guide’s 10 minutes come to 30, the figure Gemini gives.
Ethereum works differently. It runs in 12-second slots grouped into 32-slot epochs, according to ethereum.org’s proof-of-stake page, and a block becomes finalized through checkpoints at the start of each epoch once validators holding two-thirds of staked ether vote for them. Reverting a finalized block would cost an attacker at least a third of all staked ether.
Gemini’s 64 equals two epochs, and 64 slots of 12 seconds come to 12.8 minutes. Its table rounds that to about 12.
Where you see it
The wait shows as a pending deposit in the exchange account, while a block explorer may already list the transfer. Both can be true at once, because the explorer shows the transaction and the exchange is still counting.
Kraken adds that it cannot affect how fast blocks are confirmed, and that deposits sent through mixing tools such as CoinJoin “will not be credited and may be lost.” Before sending, look up the row for the exact network in the receiving exchange’s own table, and weigh the wait alongside the withdrawal fee on the sending side.