# Settlement finality

Settlement finality is the point at which a transfer becomes unconditional and irrevocable. On blockchains, finality depends on the consensus mechanism: probabilistic on proof-of-work chains, deterministic on many modern networks. Institutions must define finality per chain before building settlement processes on it.

## Why finality rules shape settlement design

Releasing the other leg of a trade before finality recreates counterparty risk; waiting too long wastes capital. Institutional settlement systems therefore encode per-chain finality thresholds and settle only when they are met, and tokenized deposit arrangements keep final interbank settlement in existing mechanisms such as RTGS.

Taurus-NETWORK applies per-chain finality rules when settling on-chain across 30+ blockchains, and supports fiat settlement where that is the appropriate final leg.

FAQ:

- Is a blockchain transaction final immediately? Not always. Proof-of-work chains offer probabilistic finality that strengthens with confirmations, while many modern and permissioned chains provide deterministic finality within seconds. Settlement systems must encode the difference per chain.

Related: https://www.taurushq.com/network/ https://www.taurushq.com/glossary/off-exchange-settlement/ https://www.taurushq.com/glossary/tokenized-deposit/

Learn more: https://www.taurushq.com/glossary/settlement-finality/