Miner returns the $23 million paid in the most expensive transaction in Ethereum so far

The miner of Ethereum block 13,307,440 returns the extraordinarily high sum he received for processing a transaction on this blockchain network.

Decentralized exchange platform DeversiFi confirmed on Twitter that the miner of block #13,307,440 on the Ethereum network is already returning the funds it received as payment for processing a transaction on the network.

Yesterday, in the morning hours, a company of cryptocurrencies Based in Hong Kong, it paid 7,676 ethers as a commission to miners for processing a transaction of just 100,000 USDT, equivalent to $100,000. The ethers paid in the mining commission exceeded 23.7 million dollars at the time of the operation. However, at press time, its value is $22.6 million, with ETH trading around $2,930 per unit. To date, this is the most expensive transaction fee ever paid to miners in the history of the Ethereum network.

The transaction was carried out by the Bitfinex company, which explained on Twitter that it was a mistake. DeversiFi identified the error and assured that his team was already investigating the possible causes and the way to proceed. DeversiFi explained that the unusual and erroneously high gas fee came from a hardware wallet belonging to Bitfinex.

The transaction with the most expensive commission paid in Ethereum.
Source: Etherscan

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Ethereum, blockchain, immutability

The miner who extracted block #13,307,440, where the company’s transaction with 7,676 ethers of commission was included, returned all the funds received by mistake. DeversiFi highlighted the importance of the miner’s human values, such as his honesty, considering that the transactions that occur on the blockchain are completely immutable.

“The revolution we are part of is defined by our values ​​as humans”pointed out the DEX, while thanking the miner for his integrity. DeversiFi promised to publish a post-mortem report to notify the causes of the error and how it happened and whether or not it was preventable. At the time of reporting this error, the DEX assured that it was an internal problem and that user funds were safe. He also clarified that transactions within the decentralized exchange would not be affected by this bug.

A history of outrageously high commissions

An erroneously high commission fee like the one Bitfinex sent out recently is quite unusual on Ethereum, but not a particular case. Last year, this outlet reported that an unlucky user sent an Ethereum transaction worth $133.8 paying a commission fee of no less than $2.6 million.

At the time, many speculated that it was human error. However, a day later, a similar transaction occurred on the network. The same user sent an $86,000 transaction again paying a $2.6 million fee to miners, sparking a firestorm of speculation including a money laundering bot, an exploit to a hot wallet of some exchange or a case of extortion in the crypto industry.

This second transaction was included in an Ethereum block by the Ethermine mining company, who reported days later that it would distribute the funds received as fees among its miners, since none of the users who claimed to own the address could prove it with valid evidence. and no exchange or company spoke about it. The first transaction was included in a block by Sparkpool, who waited a reasonable time while investigations were carried out before distributing the commission among the miners in the pool.

In 2019, there was another case of an unusual transaction on Ethereum that paid 2,730 Ether as a commission to miners. At that time, the ethers were valued at about $370,000, although at the time of this edition they amount to almost $8 million.

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