Network Latency

Blockchain network latency is the interval between submitting a transaction to a network and receiving the first indication that the transaction has been accepted. The transaction gets more definitive after the first confirmation as more blocks are added after the original confirmation. Low network latency is crucial for a payments system that wants to be widely used. If it takes too long, the interval between paying at the cashier and receiving the confirmation of the payment might cause user annoyance.

An exchange’s latency is a gauge of how quickly it can process and carry out huge numbers of orders in its order books.