A Bitcoin User Pays $3.1 Million in Transaction Fees
A Bitcoin user recently made a transaction with a staggering fee of $3.1 million, which is the eighth-highest fee in Bitcoin’s history. The user transferred 139.42 BTC but ended up paying over half of that amount as a transaction fee.
High Fee Captured by Antpool
The transaction was captured by the mining pool Antpool on block 818087. The destination address only received 55.77 BTC, leaving the sender with a significant loss.
Reasons for the High Fee
Social media users speculated that the sender may have intentionally selected a high fee, but other factors such as the replace-by-fee (RBF) node policy and the sender’s lack of awareness likely played a role. RBF allows unconfirmed transactions in the mempool to be replaced with new transactions that offer higher fees for quicker approval.
User’s Unawareness of RBF Policy
A developer familiar with mempool operations explained that the user probably didn’t know RBF orders cannot be canceled. The user may have repeatedly increased the fees in an attempt to cancel the transaction, resulting in additional fees being added each time.
Previous Incidents of High Transaction Fees
This isn’t the first time such an incident has occurred. In September, Paxos accidentally sent a $500,000 transaction fee for a $2,000 BTC transfer. However, this recent case is the largest-ever transaction fee paid in dollar terms.
No Comment from Antpool
Antpool, the mining pool responsible for capturing the high fee, has not yet commented on the issue or responded to requests for comments.
Hot Take: Bitcoin User Pays $3.1 Million in Transaction Fees, Setting a New Record
A Bitcoin user recently made a transaction with an astonishing fee of $3.1 million, marking the highest-ever transaction fee paid in dollar terms. The user’s attempt to transfer 139.42 BTC resulted in a loss of over half the amount in fees. While some speculate that the high fee was intentional, it is more likely that the sender was unaware of the replace-by-fee (RBF) policy and mistakenly increased the fees multiple times in an unsuccessful attempt to cancel the transaction. This incident highlights the importance of understanding the technical aspects of Bitcoin transactions to avoid costly mistakes.
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