<blockquote>
  <p>what happens to transactions on the stale chain; if i understand correctly those transactions are simply given up?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Correct. In the case of a stale (abandoned) chain, any transactions that happened in the stale blocks (that did not also happen in the active chain's blocks) would no longer exist on the bitcoin network. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>but this looks like people would lose their money if they received payments on the stale chain; how does the bitcoin protocol protect them in this case?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Also correct. There is no built-in 'protection' against having a transaction included in a stale chain. As a user, it is almost always recommended that you <strong>wait for a few confirmations before you consider a transaction as fully settled</strong>. This helps ensure that your transaction isn't included in what will eventually become a stale chain. Often, people quote <strong>six blocks</strong> as being a high level of assurance.</p>

<p>In practice, we can see that it is exceedingly rare for there to be a stale fork that runs longer than just a couple of blocks. See <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3343/what-is-the-longest-blockchain-fork-that-has-been-orphaned-to-date">this question</a> for some examples of past forks. </p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-03T07:54:39.490Z
thank you and i highlighted the main points;
Cyker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-03T06:53:39.650Z
2018-11-03T07:56:03.663Z
2018-11-03T07:56:03.663Z
chytrik
<p>i learned about hard and soft forks from this <a href="https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/30817/what-is-a-soft-fork">question</a>; now i have a basic understanding about forks; but the answers of that question did not say what happens to transactions on the stale chain; if i understand correctly those transactions are simply given up? but this looks like people would lose their money if they received payments on the stale chain; how does the bitcoin protocol protect them in this case? (there is a timer for confirmation of transactions but i am still not sure how it is being used and why it is adequate;)</p>

<transactions><blockchain-fork><confirmations><soft-fork>
how to prevent losses after a hard or soft fork
Cyker
# how to prevent losses after a hard or soft fork

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-11-03)

i learned about hard and soft forks from this [question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/30817/what-is-a-soft-fork); now i have a basic understanding about forks; but the answers of that question did not say what happens to transactions on the stale chain; if i understand correctly those transactions are simply given up? but this looks like people would lose their money if they received payments on the stale chain; how does the bitcoin protocol protect them in this case? (there is a timer for confirmation of transactions but i am still not sure how it is being used and why it is adequate;)

**Tags:** transactions, blockchain-fork, confirmations, soft-fork


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-11-03. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

> what happens to transactions on the stale chain; if i understand correctly those transactions are simply given up?

Correct. In the case of a stale (abandoned) chain, any transactions that happened in the stale blocks (that did not also happen in the active chain's blocks) would no longer exist on the bitcoin network.

> but this looks like people would lose their money if they received payments on the stale chain; how does the bitcoin protocol protect them in this case?

Also correct. There is no built-in 'protection' against having a transaction included in a stale chain. As a user, it is almost always recommended that you **wait for a few confirmations before you consider a transaction as fully settled**. This helps ensure that your transaction isn't included in what will eventually become a stale chain. Often, people quote **six blocks** as being a high level of assurance.

In practice, we can see that it is exceedingly rare for there to be a stale fork that runs longer than just a couple of blocks. See [this question](https://bitcoin.stackexchange.com/questions/3343/what-is-the-longest-blockchain-fork-that-has-been-orphaned-to-date) for some examples of past forks.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: thank you and i highlighted the main points;  

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