A Bitcoin User Pays $3.1 Million Transaction Fee
A Bitcoin user recently made headlines by paying a staggering $3.1 million in transaction fees to transfer 139.42 BTC. This is one of the highest fees ever recorded in the world of cryptocurrencies, sparking widespread community reactions and opinions from on-chain analysts.
The Shocking Transfer Fee
On November 23, on-chain data revealed that a Bitcoiner paid a transfer fee of 83 BTC, equivalent to approximately $3.1 million. This amount consumed over 50% of the total transaction value, leaving the recipient with only 55.77 BTC in their wallet. Many have speculated that human error may be to blame for this incident.
Scrutinizing the Replace-by-Fee Policy
Several on-chain developers have examined the replace-by-fee (RBF) policy, which allows users to replace unconfirmed transactions in the mempool with another transaction that pays more to be cleared faster. The data shows that the last RBF replacement increased the transaction fee by an additional 12.5 BTC, adding 20% to the already high figure.
Possible Lack of Understanding
A crypto developer has argued that the user may not have been aware that RBF orders cannot be cancelled according to its policy. It is possible that the user had different expectations and was not aware of this limitation.
Antpool Mining Receives Reward
Antpool, owned by Bitmain, received the mining reward for this transaction after completing block number 818087. Interestingly, the account responsible for the transaction was created just a few minutes before it took place. Antpool has not released an official statement regarding this situation.
Other Instances of High Transaction Fees
This is not the first time a mining pool has seen such high transaction fees. In 2016, a transaction fee of 291 BTC was recorded, making it the highest ever. Additionally, in September, Paxos paid a $500,000 transfer fee to move $2000 worth of assets.
Hot Take: Mistakes and Recovering Lost Funds
Mistakes resulting in lost assets have occurred in the past. However, in most cases, mining pools assist users in recovering their funds. For example, in 2019, Sparkpool helped an Ethereum user recover 50% of funds lost due to a $400,000 transaction fee.
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