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Level 9 · Advanced technical layer

Mempool, RBF, CPFP and fee bumping

How local mempool policy treats replacements and transaction packages when a payment is waiting.

Article
92
Reading time
15 minutes
Reviewed
10 September 2026

In a nutshell

Every node maintains its own bounded mempool under local policy. RBF replaces an unconfirmed transaction with one paying a sufficient higher fee; CPFP spends an output with a high-fee child so miners may prefer the package.

01

There is no single mempool

Nodes can receive transactions in different orders, set different size limits or reject entries under their policy. A transaction missing from one mempool may exist in another; acceptance is not a reservation of block space.

02

RBF replaces a conflict

A replacement spends at least one of the same inputs. Bitcoin Core policy checks conflicts, fee increase, feerate and resource limits. The original may still be mined by a miner that saw or chose it, so unconfirmed recipients must not treat RBF labels as a guarantee.

03

CPFP raises package economics

A recipient can spend a parent output with a sufficiently high-fee child. Miners evaluating the ancestor package may include both when their combined feerate is attractive. It requires a spendable output and consumes more block space.

04

Wallets need a plan

Choose a reasonable initial feerate, preserve change that can be bumped, and understand the wallet's replacement support. Fee estimators use recent history rather than a timetable; neither RBF nor CPFP guarantees a particular confirmation time.

Level 9 · Advanced technical layer

Terms to know

RBF
Replacing an unconfirmed conflicting transaction under mempool policy.
CPFP
A high-fee child used to improve a parent-and-child package's incentive.
Package feerate
Fees divided by size across related transactions considered together.

Common misconception

Once every explorer shows a transaction, it owns a fixed place in the queue.

A more accurate explanation

Mempools are local and change with policy, conflicts, eviction and new blocks; no global queue position exists.

A more accurate explanation

Does RBF enable theft?

An unconfirmed payment is not final with or without RBF. Replacement makes fee adjustment explicit; recipients should match confirmation requirements to value and threat.

92

Key takeaways

  1. 01Each node has a local mempool.
  2. 02RBF replaces a conflicting spend under policy.
  3. 03CPFP pays for a related package.
  4. 04Fee bumping improves incentives, not certainty.

A child-friendly recap

In very simple terms

Every node has its own waiting list. RBF can replace your payment with a higher-fee version and CPFP attaches a costly child, but neither promises a confirmation time.

Reviewed: 10 September 2026

Sources and further reading

Sources support particular facts and definitions; listing one does not mean the editors endorse every view of its author.

01
BIP 125: replace-by-feeBitcoin Improvement Proposals
bips.dev
02
Bitcoin Core: mempool replacementsBitcoin Core
github.com
03
Bitcoin Core: package policyBitcoin Core
github.com

Educational material, not an investment recommendation.