Marathon Digital (MARA), a Bitcoin mining company, has recently mined an invalid Bitcoin block at a height of 809478, as reported by various developers, miners, and researchers in the cryptocurrency community.
Marathon Digital acknowledged the mining of the invalid block on social media X (formerly Twitter), attributing it to a bug encountered during an experimental phase. The company clarified that they allocate a portion of their hash rate for development pool experiments and research aimed at optimizing their operations. According to Marathon Digital’s statement, the error occurred due to an unforeseen bug arising from one of these experiments.
On an earlier occasion, an anonymous Bitcoin developer known as “0xB10C” posted on X (formerly Twitter) that MaraPool had encountered a “transaction ordering issue.” This observation was subsequently verified by Jameson Lopp, the co-founder of CasaHODL.
The invalid Bitcoin block was rejected by other node operators due to a transaction that had been incorrectly ordered, specifically involving a spending output transaction. This misordering led to the block’s invalidation, as explained by BitMEX Research.
The mining of an invalid block raised concerns within the community regarding the network’s security. However, Marathon cited the rejection of the block as an example of the Bitcoin network’s resilience, highlighting its ability to detect and reject invalid blocks to maintain its integrity.
Marathon clarified that the experiment was not an attempt to alter Bitcoin Core and that the incident was unintended. They emphasized that it highlights the robust security of the Bitcoin network, which promptly rejected and rectified the anomaly.
Despite this incident, Marathon’s shares saw a nearly 2% decline on Wednesday, while peer Riot Platform (RIOT) experienced about a 0.7% drop, and the price of Bitcoin remained mostly positive.
Currently, Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $26,517 following a drop of about 1% in the last 24 hours.
Bitcoin Halving is Round the Corner
The Bitcoin mining reward is going to be cut in half as the next Bitcoin halving is going to take place by April 2024.
Bitcoin halving is a significant event in the cryptocurrency world, where the mining rewards for Bitcoin are reduced by half. When Bitcoin was first created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009, miners received around 50 BTC as rewards. The first Bitcoin halving occurred in 2012, reducing the reward to 25 BTC.
Subsequent halvings in 2016 and 2020 further decreased the reward to 12.5 BTC and then to the current 6.25 BTC. The next Bitcoin halving is anticipated to further reduce mining rewards to 3.125 BTC. This event plays a crucial role in Bitcoin’s supply dynamics and its impact on the crypto market.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/09/28/marathon-digital-affirms-mining-invalid-bitcoin-btc-due-to-bug/