Transfer of 139 BTC Charged the User $3M in Transaction Fees

Blockchain networks rarely witness any unwanted mishaps with transaction fees. Recently such an instance occurred which turned out to be the most expensive cryptocurrency transfer in terms of USD. A Bitcoin (BTC) transfer charged a staggering 83.7 BTC, equivalent to $3.1 Million, in transaction fees. 

The record transaction fees were charged on a Bitcoin transfer that took place on Thursday, November 23, 2023. The original transaction was supposed to carry out transferring 139.43 BTC. However, 83.7 BTC was deducted as transaction fees and the user at the recipient end received only 55.77 BTC. 

The specific block was mined by AntPool at the block height of 818087. Both the cryptocurrency wallets included in the transactions were newly created. 

Bitcoin User Sets Record with Staggering Fee

In a surprising turn of events, the Bitcoin user has unwittingly established a new record for the highest transaction fee ever paid in dollars. The incident occurred when the user, mononaut on X (formerly Twitter), executed a transaction with an exceptionally high fee without realizing that Replace-by-Fee (RBF) orders cannot be canceled.

According to mempool developer, mononaut, the user may have attempted to cancel the transaction by repeatedly adjusting the fees, unaware of the nature of RBF orders. RBF allows an unconfirmed transaction in the mempool to be replaced with a different transaction offering a higher fee, expediting the confirmation process.

This mishap now holds the record for the largest Bitcoin transaction fee paid in dollars, surpassing the previous record set by a Paxos transfer in September. In that case, a $500,000 fee accompanied a $2,000 BTC transfer. 

Remarkably, the F2Pool miner responsible for verifying the transaction in the Paxos incident promptly returned the accidental $500,000 fee.

This recent blunder echoes a historical mistake from 2016 when a Bitcoin user mistakenly sent an astonishing 291 BTC in transaction fees, standing as the largest fee paid in Bitcoin terms. 

As the crypto community navigates such peculiar incidents, it underscores the importance of caution and awareness in conducting transactions within the unpredictable realm of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Stays Above $37K Support

At press time, the flagship cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at $37,769, a rise of nearly 4% in the monthly time frame. The leading cryptocurrency has shown tremendous growth in the past few months. The crypto asset has experienced a staggering growth of over 100% from last year’s lows at around $17K. 

With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts round the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.