Once a transaction is on the blockchain, it is confirmed. That is the definition of “confirmed” in the bitcoin system. So a transaction cannot “sit on the blockchain” unless it is already confirmed.

You can broadcast your transaction to the peer nodes that you are connected to, and they can relay that transaction to the peer nodes that they are connected to, and so on until pretty much all nodes on the network have heard about your transaction. The nodes will store your transaction in their memory pool in case any peer requests it. It won’t be “on the blockchain” yet, but some websites might show you the transaction if they have heard about it from any of the nodes they are connected to.
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Bitcoin, as any system of man, exhibits together both the highest ideals of utopia, and the lowest residual trash of society.

[Note: some names & sensitive details have been changed]

This is the story of how ShapeShift, a leading blockchain asset exchange platform, was betrayed. Not once, not twice, but three times in less than a month.

In total, nearly two-hundred thousand dollars in cryptocurrency was stolen by thieves within and without, not to mention the significant resources expended in its wake. Nevertheless, no customer funds were ever lost or at risk, a milestone for an industry pocked with past tragedy, and ShapeShift itself has adapted and rebuilt, humbled by the experience learned, and ever more resolute in its mission of safe, frictionless asset exchange.

In the spirit of Bitcoin’s openness, we wanted to share this story with the community; may you be informed, entertained, reflective, and ever-diligent in your own affairs.
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