The speed of a bitcoin transaction depends on the peers involved in the exchange of good and services. The network is mainly involved in security, that's where the confirmation comes in, have you heard of Zero confirm merchants. So, if you are cool with the next person, you can send them what they paid for knowing that after the confirmation process your funds will definitely get to you.
You can do this in person, between you and your trusted friend, but you should not do this. It is easily to get a first confirmation if your trade partner knows how to use a good enough fee rate. If he does not know, tell him about that and the deal will be completed within 10 minutes or 30 minutes. It's more safely for you.
What then is speed about the Bitcoin network?
We are talking about either Average Time between blocks which is about 10 minutes. It's
10 minutes 54 seconds in the last 24-hour blocks. However, there are blocks can be mined within a few seconds or a few minutes but shorter than 10 minutes (the average) or longer than 10 minutes.
The funds goes in immediately to your address balance, but needs at least 1 confirm before it reflects on your wallet, just to secure the funds from double spending.
No. You don't receive your bitcoin if that transaction does not have a first confirmation. What you see in your wallet is just a note for the incoming transaction which might come in or might never come in your wallet.
I've met some people who don't wait for the confirmation process before they send me what I've paid for, this time, the speed of a bitcoin transaction has to do with trust. If you don't trust that person please wait a little while before giving out your own side of the deal. I think it's a straight forward experience.
You can do this but it is risky. The bigger amount of the deal, the more confirmations you will need.
How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough?- 1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.
- 3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.
- 6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.
- 10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.