AntPool Agrees to Refund $3 Million Transaction Fee
AntPool, a leading Bitcoin mining pool, has made headlines for its decision to refund an abnormally high transaction fee of $3 million. This comes after a Bitcoin user accidentally paid this fee, setting a new record for the highest single transaction fee in US dollars.
A Bitcoin Anomaly and AntPool’s Response
Last week, a Bitcoin transaction included a fee of 83.65 BTC, equivalent to around $3.1 million, to transfer 55.77 BTC worth about $2.1 million. AntPool’s risk control system initially froze this extraordinary fee, which was over 120,528 times the usual rate. The transaction was processed in block 818,087 mined by AntPool.
AntPool recently released a statement explaining that it had temporarily frozen the fee upon detecting the unusual transaction. The mining pool has invited the originator of the transaction to verify their identity and claim the refund before December 10th, 2023.
To facilitate this process, AntPool has advised the owner to use a signing tool like Electrum or Bitcoin Core with the private key associated with the address that initiated the transaction. They must sign the message “AntPool” and send it to AntPool’s support email.
Victim Claims and Security Concerns
A Bitcoin user claimed to be the victim of the excessive transaction fee, alleging that their wallet had been hacked. They stated that they transferred 139 BTC to a new cold wallet, which was immediately redirected elsewhere. This hacking claim complicates AntPool’s task of refunding the fee as they need to verify the true owner of the funds.
A developer known as Mononaut suggested that the hack may have originated from a low-entropy wallet, potentially a brain wallet. Such wallets, with inadequate randomness, are more susceptible to security breaches. AntPool will need another way to authenticate the victim’s identity if they decide to return the fee.
Therefore, AntPool must find an alternative method to verify the rightful owner’s identity before proceeding with the refund.
Hot Take: Bitcoin’s Market Behavior and Price
Bitcoin has been exhibiting a gradual upward trend in the market. It recently surpassed the $38,000 mark, indicating a bullish momentum. However, there has been a slight pullback, and its current trading price is around $37,930 at the time of writing.
Featured image from Unsplash, Chart from TradingView
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