<p>Yes, there is a mathematical grounding behind this, namely <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisson_distribution" rel="nofollow">Poisson distribution</a>. See <a href="https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf" rel="nofollow">Satoshi's original paper</a> (last pages) for some details about calculating the odds of a successful double spend attack given a certain portion of the networks computation capacity. This also means of course that networks with a larger hashing power are more susceptible to an attack than networks with lower hashing power.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-28T11:09:15.960Z
2014-05-28T11:09:15.960Z
Jori
<p>For Bitcoin it is common knowledge that 6 confirmations suffices. For the hundred of Alt Coins however, I'm not sure what the best practise to be protected enough from double-spents and the likes is.</p>

<p>I saw Bter.com requires different confirmations varying on which Altcoin you want to deposit.</p>

<p>For example COMM-coin requires 10 confirmations, but BBQ coin 6, and Infinitecoin only 4.</p>

<p>Is there a mathematical method behind this? How do they know how many confirmations to require?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-05-21T19:34:09.447Z
Isn't it related to the (expected) block time? That would sound a bit logical. For example, bitcoin takes around 15-20 minutes for each block. Not sure though, interesting question!
Mathias711
<confirmations><altcoin>
Altcoins: Determine how many confirmations to require to deposit
Weatus
# Altcoins: Determine how many confirmations to require to deposit

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-05-21)

For Bitcoin it is common knowledge that 6 confirmations suffices. For the hundred of Alt Coins however, I'm not sure what the best practise to be protected enough from double-spents and the likes is.

I saw Bter.com requires different confirmations varying on which Altcoin you want to deposit.

For example COMM-coin requires 10 confirmations, but BBQ coin 6, and Infinitecoin only 4.

Is there a mathematical method behind this? How do they know how many confirmations to require?

**Tags:** confirmations, altcoin

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Isn't it related to the (expected) block time? That would sound a bit logical. For example, bitcoin takes around 15-20 minutes for each block. Not sure though, interesting question!  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2014-05-28. Score: 1

Yes, there is a mathematical grounding behind this, namely [Poisson distribution](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisson_distribution). See [Satoshi's original paper](https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) (last pages) for some details about calculating the odds of a successful double spend attack given a certain portion of the networks computation capacity. This also means of course that networks with a larger hashing power are more susceptible to an attack than networks with lower hashing power.


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