TL;DR
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Bitcoin transaction fees allow users to pay a premium for faster transactions (kinda like tipping a hostess to jump the wait list at a restaurant).
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Last Thursday, someone sent 55 BTC and paid 83 BTC in transaction fees…which seems like a mistake…In fiat terms – that’s $3.1 Million in transaction fees.
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The wallet that made the transaction was created just minutes before it all took place. Which leads us to believe this person was rushing and made a v costly typo.
Full Story
Having fat fingers while texting can get hilarious.
For example, our writer Caite Opfer recently texted her mom:
“I’m at my orthodontist opponent” Instead of: “I’m at my orthodontist appointment” And she responded with “did you win?”
(Side note: Mrs. Opfer sounds like a solid hang)
An instance where fat fingers are not funny, is when they result in you overpaying millions of dollars on BTC transaction fees.
How does one mess up transaction payments?
Bitcoin transaction fees allow users to pay a premium for faster transactions.
(Kinda like tipping a hostess to jump the wait list at a restaurant).
Last Thursday, someone sent 55 BTC and paid 83 BTC in transaction fees…which seems like a mistake…
In fiat terms – that’s $3.1 Million in transaction fees.
PLUS!
The wallet that made the transaction was created just minutes before it all took place.
Which leads us to believe this person was rushing and made a v costly typo.
…unless they were gunning to set the record for the largest transaction fee ever paid in Bitcoin’s 14 year history, beating a fee paid this past Sep. at $500,000.
(Which was also a mistake, but was kindly refunded by the miner that received it)
Whether this one will be returned is still yet to be seen.
AntPool, the mining pool that processed the transaction has not yet published an announcement in relation to the overpayment.
So, what’s the takeaway?
Whether you’re texting your mom, or casually sending $2M worth of BTC to someone:
Always make sure to proof read before you hit ‘send.’
