A Bitcoin (BTC) sender made a costly error by paying an unprecedented $3 million in transaction fees for a single transaction. The sender intended to send 139.42 BTC, valued at around $5.1 million, but mistakenly lost 83.64 BTC in fees, leaving the recipient with only 55.77 BTC, approximately $2 million. This transaction fee sets a new record in Bitcoin’s history.
According to blockchain data from Bitinfocharts, the transaction was processed by Bitcoin miner AntPool in block 818087. While Bitcoin transactions can be expensive during busy periods, data from Bitinfocharts indicates that the average transaction fee on the Bitcoin network is currently $14.1.
In September, stablecoin issuer Paxos paid a $500,000 fee for processing a transaction worth just $2,000. Fortunately, Bitcoin miner F2Pool agreed to refund the excessive payment in that instance.
While this is a costly mistake, Bitcoin transaction fees have been surging lately due to growing interest in Bitcoin Ordinals. Ordinals are digital assets inscribed on the smallest unit of Bitcoin, called a satoshi. The inclusion of Ordinals on the Bitcoin blockchain has increased network activity, resulting in higher transaction costs.
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