An unknown Bitcoin user has parted ways with 19 BTC, worth over $500,000, by covering solely transaction fees. This amount exceeds the reward given to miners for confirming a series of transactions in more than three Bitcoin blocks.
Over $500k for Transaction Fees
Like every other blockchain network, all Bitcoin transactions are settled with a fee. The fees are paid to miners, ensuring smooth processing of on-chain transactions. The higher the fees, the faster the transaction will be confirmed and processed.
The fees used to settle Bitcoin transactions vary, depending on the number of pending transactions at a given time. According to the analytics platform YCharts, the Bitcoin network currently charges around an average of $2 per transaction.
This implies that the Bitcoiner ought to have spent a minimal amount to confirm the transaction. Instead, they spent over half a million dollars to settle transaction fees.
The cause for the astronomical fee is uncertain. However, there are speculations as to the cause of such a fee surge. Gokhshtein Media, a media platform led by entrepreneur David Gokhshtein, suggested that the cause could be a software glitch, a mistake, or something else known only to the BTC sender.
Most times, users rushing to complete transactions attract miners with a high transaction fee, resulting in quicker transaction settlements.
The incident has resulted in debates among Bitcoiners and skeptics regarding the network’s scalability and efficiency. Others seized the opportunity to criticize Bitcoin itself.
Not the First Time
Notably, this is not the first time that a user will spend an enormous amount to cover on-chain transaction fees. A previous report confirmed that an Ethereum user spent a whopping 204 ETH to settle an NFT minting transaction. At the time, the total ETH was worth $553,000.
Another report confirmed that a user spent as much as $23.5 million in fees to settle transactions. In the case of this transaction, however, the miner returned the excess ETH to the sender’s wallet.
