<blockquote>
  <p>Does it still use a blockchain?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Yes, it is using a blockchain, however it is "federated" with a known set of participants which enforce consensus rules. It does not utilize proof-of-work mining.  The Liquid sidechain allows 2-way pegging of assets eg: <code>L-BTC</code> &lt;-> <code>BTC</code>.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>How fast are the the transfers?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>The <a href="https://blockstream.com/assets/downloads/strong-federations.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Liquid white paper</a> mentions 1 minute block times with the possibility to reduce this:</p>

<p><em>"Today, the implementation allows for one minute blocks. It will be possible to reduce the time to the amount required for the pre-commit and agreement threshold time of the network traversal"</em></p>

<p>However (as of October 29th, 2018) the <a href="https://blockstream.com/liquid/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Blockstream website</a> has a bullet point indicating the actual settlement time is 2-minutes currently:</p>

<p><em>"React to trading opportunities faster thanks to two minute settlement times when sending between exchanges."</em></p>

<p>This should allow much faster transfers between exchanges which could potentially let users trade <code>L-BTC</code> upon receipt as though it were <code>BTC</code>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-29T15:13:15.533Z
2018-10-29T15:13:15.533Z
Jonathan Cross
<p>Transactions on the Liquid sidechain are said to enable much faster transfers than the main Bitcoin blockchain.  How fast are the the transfers?   Does it still use a blockchain?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-02T08:35:45.677Z
This sort of comes across as spammy.
Claris
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-11-02T22:29:23.090Z
@Anonymous I see how one might feel that way, I just wanted to find the answer to this question and didn't find it here.  So I researched a bit and made a Q&A.  Feel free to edit.
Jonathan Cross
<sidechains><blockstream><liquid>
How long do transactions on the Liquid Network take to clear?
Jonathan Cross
# How long do transactions on the Liquid Network take to clear?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-29)

Transactions on the Liquid sidechain are said to enable much faster transfers than the main Bitcoin blockchain. How fast are the the transfers? Does it still use a blockchain?

**Tags:** sidechains, blockstream, liquid

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: This sort of comes across as spammy.  
> **username_0**: @Anonymous I see how one might feel that way, I just wanted to find the answer to this question and didn't find it here.  So I researched a bit and made a Q&A.  Feel free to edit.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_0 on 2018-10-29. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

> Does it still use a blockchain?

Yes, it is using a blockchain, however it is "federated" with a known set of participants which enforce consensus rules. It does not utilize proof-of-work mining. The Liquid sidechain allows 2-way pegging of assets eg: `L-BTC` <-> `BTC`.

> How fast are the the transfers?

The [Liquid white paper](https://blockstream.com/assets/downloads/strong-federations.pdf) mentions 1 minute block times with the possibility to reduce this:

*"Today, the implementation allows for one minute blocks. It will be possible to reduce the time to the amount required for the pre-commit and agreement threshold time of the network traversal"*

However (as of October 29th, 2018) the [Blockstream website](https://blockstream.com/liquid/) has a bullet point indicating the actual settlement time is 2-minutes currently:

*"React to trading opportunities faster thanks to two minute settlement times when sending between exchanges."*

This should allow much faster transfers between exchanges which could potentially let users trade `L-BTC` upon receipt as though it were `BTC`.


---

