How many confirmations
The statement: you need three confirmations. Sometimes one. Sometimes ten. The number is a policy choice and it belongs to whoever is receiving.
Bucket: DEPENDS
It depends on which coin, on the amount, on the receiver's appetite for risk, and on whatever they set it to this week. There is no protocol level requirement anywhere. Confirmation counts are a receiver's decision from start to finish.
What a confirmation actually is
A block containing your transaction, plus every block built on top of it. Each additional block makes rewriting history more expensive for anyone who wanted to. So a confirmation count is a statement about how much reversal cost the receiver wants before they treat the payment as settled.
Which means the right number is not a fact about the transaction. It is a fact about how much the receiver stands to lose.
Why it varies by coin
Block intervals differ. A chain producing a block every couple of minutes gives you confirmations quickly and each one is worth less. A chain producing one every ten minutes gives you fewer and each is worth more. Six on one chain and six on another are not comparable amounts of security or of time.
So a rule of thumb carried from one coin to another is usually wrong in both directions at once.
Why it varies by amount
A receiver worried about reversal scales the requirement to the value at stake. Small deposits may be credited at one confirmation or even zero, because the cost of being wrong is small and the customer experience is better. Larger ones wait.
This is why two people report different requirements honestly. They deposited different amounts.
What you can see
- The requirement, if the deposit page states it. Often it does.
- The current count, on any public explorer.
- The block interval for the coin, which is public.
- The receiver's reason for the number, which you cannot see at all.
What people get wrong
They treat the number as a rule of the network. It is not, and this leads to arguments where two people quote different numbers and both are describing real experiences with different receivers.
They also assume the requirement is stable. A receiver can raise it during a period of unusual activity, or lower it to reduce complaints, and nobody announces either. The number you remember from last time is a memory, not a setting you can rely on.
Zero confirmation crediting
Some receivers credit small amounts before any block includes the transaction. That is a business decision to absorb a small risk in exchange for a better experience, and it is why one person swears deposits are instant while another waits an hour. Both are describing the same system with different amounts.
It is not a feature you can request and it is not a promise. A receiver can withdraw it at any time, particularly after a period where somebody abused it.
The practical position
Read the deposit page for the requirement. Watch the count on an explorer. If the count passes the stated requirement and nothing changes on your balance, the problem is no longer confirmations, it is crediting, which is covered on the deposit time page.
Nothing you do speeds up confirmation once sent. The count moves at the pace blocks are produced.