Bitcoin Sender Struck With $3.1M Transaction Fee, Largest in History

Antpool successfully mined a block, and the sender’s wallet was created just moments before initiating the transfer.

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A noteworthy incident occurred on Thursday when an individual paid a staggering $3.1 million in transaction fees for a Bitcoin (BTC) transfer. The mining entity Antpool was duly rewarded for processing the block, receiving the standard 6.25 BTC alongside an additional 85.2163 BTC in fees for all transactions within the block, as per on-chain data.

This particular transaction, mined in block 818087, stands out as the largest transaction fee ever paid in Bitcoin’s 14-year history.

Interestingly, the sender’s wallet was established just minutes before executing the transfer, and the recipient ultimately received only 55.78 BTC out of the initially sent 139.42 BTC.

Comparisons can be drawn to a previous incident in September, where F2Pool returned a 19.8 BTC fee that was erroneously sent by Paxos. Notably, AntPool, a mining pool affiliated with Bitmain, has not issued any public statements regarding the excessive fee in this case.

In the broader context, there has been a recent surge in Bitcoin fees, attributed to heightened activity surrounding the Bitcoin-based NFT project Ordinals. However, it is emphasized that the described transaction seems to be an isolated error rather than an indication of a more widespread impact on the market.