Bitcoin Miner Repays Customer Who Accidentally Paid 2.5 Bitcoins Transaction Fee

A customer of Bitcoin hardware and service provider Bitmain recently found himself in a “rather embarrassing” predicament. Accidentally having paid a 2.5 bitcoin fee on a transaction mined by Bitmain’s Antpool in Bitcoin block 456363, the user took to social media, desperate to get the funds back.

Also Read: How Much Does it Cost to Run a Full Node?

The fee, after having already been dispersed to miners as a mining reward, could have been lost forever. But instead, Bitmain decided to compensate the user for the loss with their own money. In a reply to a service ticket submitted over the issue, Bitmain notified the client of their decision.

Dear Customer,

We are sorry to hear this…

First of all, this mistake caused by himself, and we don’t have responsibility for this. And since now, Antpool has taken PPS+ and PPLNS+ payment method, so his 2.5 bitcoin transaction fee has already paid out to all the miners in Antpool. But thanks for all of your supports and unconditional trust for Antpool and Bitmain, our company has decided to pay his loss.

Looking forward to continuing to build your trust and bringing you more added values through our advanced technology and passion.

Best Wishes,

Hugh

Bitmain

Hardly the first Bitcoiner to Overpay a Transaction Fee

Regularly on social media, people recount their transaction fee nightmares. They nearly ubiquitously hope they can somehow get their miscalculated or ‘fat-fingered’ transaction fees back. In January, for instance, someone apparently paid 50 bitcoins in transaction fees. The sender might have mixed up the fee and the amount meant to be sent. In general, the average transaction fee is up more than 1,200% in the past two years.

Some users believe there could be a solution to overpaid transaction fees. When a Bitcoin user chooses a fee that is too low, for example, a transaction can be outright rejected. Many Bitcoiners suggest that, when a Bitcoiner pays a fee that is too high on a transaction, miners could similarly reject it.

As one social media commentator postulates, “Nodes should check that fees don’t exceed the average of the last 10 blocks highest fees. If it’s significantly higher, send a return message back asking for confirmation of the fee.”

He adds: “[This has] nothing to do with miners as it is on a node level, and in theory, a mistaken fee shouldn’t enter the network beyond the first node it reaches, which would hold it and require a signed message from the sender to confirm it is correct.”

Many Bitcoin wallets manage transaction fees so their users don’t have to bother.

Bitmain Technologies Limited, based in China, specializes in custom mining chips, miners, and also runs a mining pool.

Miners refunding transactions is not completely unheard of, as ASIC miner refunded a more than 200 bitcoin mining fee paid by a customer approximately three years ago.

What do you think about Bitmain’s repaying of the transaction fee? Let us know in the comments below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Bitmain, Getty Images

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