What it means
Different finality models
Networks reach assurance in different ways. Bitcoin acceptance commonly uses a confirmation policy as confidence increases with additional blocks. Ethereum proof-of-stake has a protocol-defined checkpoint finality mechanism. These are not interchangeable guarantees.
Merchant decisions
A detected transaction, an included transaction and a finalized transaction describe different observations. A merchant chooses a risk policy for the exact chain, asset and order value, including what to do during reorganization or delayed finality. Provider ledger credits and bank payouts belong to additional processes.
Related concepts
In practice
A concrete example
An order can remain pending after transaction detection until the merchant’s chain-specific finality or confirmation policy is met.
Technical notes & boundaries
A fixed confirmation count is not universally sufficient across chains. Finality also does not prove delivery of goods or completion of a fiat payout.
Go to the source.
Original references used for this definition. Product details and standards can change.