Sending bitcoins to myself

Question

If I send bitcoins from my wallet to an address I created in my wallet, will I get more than 1 confirmation eventually? And do I have to wait for all the block to be downloaded to my wallet so I can get coins sent to me?

Answer 1

Yes and yes. Nobody other than you knows that you are sending to yourself since they can't see any connection between two bitcoin addresses. So it will be just like any other transaction. If you want fast confirmation you should include a fee.

And if you are using bitcoin-qt then it's always downloading blocks automatically. The latest transactions are contained in the latest blocks so it will have to download them before it realises that you have the coins. You don't have to worry about this since it is all automatic.

Edit: To clarify the second question you can always receive coins no matter what. But to see the latest receipts in your bitcoin-qt window and to spend those coins you have to be in sync with the network.

Answer 2

will I get more than 1 confirmation in time?

What do you mean with "in time"? No one knows this is a transaction to yourself, it will be confirmed at the same speed than other transactions. Since you sent the transaction yourself, there is no risk of fraud, so waiting for confirmations for security has no effect.

do I have to wait for all the block to be downloaded to my wallet so I can get coins sent to me?

I don't really see this question to be related to the previous one. You never need to be synced (all blocks downloaded) to receive coins. However, when you are not synced, you cannot see new transactions being added to your balance.

So, you can give your address to other people for them to send coins to, but you can only see their payments appear when you are synced up. (Or you can enter the address in an online block chain browser like blockexplorer.com or blockchain.info.)