User sends $10 to Kraken and pays 0.99 BTC in fees, equivalent to about $105,000.
Error occurs due to wallet configuration failure and manual entry of fees.
Transaction was mined by the MARA Pool; cases of 'billion-dollar fees' have occurred before.
Last Monday, a Bitcoin user paid almost an entire coin in fees when transferring only $10 to the Kraken exchange.
Moreover, the amount, equivalent to 0.99 BTC or about $105,000, caught the attention of Whale Alert and quickly spread across social media.
How the error occurred and the context of the transaction
Bitcoin transactions allow users to manually set fees, which is why there is room for mistakes. In this case, the user incorrectly configured the change or recipient field, causing the network to accept the excessive fee without issues.
According to Whale Alert, "a fee of 0.99 BTC has just been paid for a single transaction to Kraken," and Mempool.space confirmed the cost of 99,989,964 sats.
In comparison, the average fee for a high-priority transaction is currently around $0.30, meaning the user paid over 222 thousand times what was necessary.
Similar mistakes have occurred before. For example, in November 2023, a user burned 83.65 BTC, equivalent to about $3.1 million. Additionally, in 2021, Bitfinex paid $24 million in Ethereum due to a typo, but the miner returned part of the amount.
Miners and the return of accidental fees
The MARA Pool mined the transaction and received the full fee. However, miners can, in exceptional cases, return amounts. For this, the sender needs to prove ownership of the funds. However, miners decide whether or not to return the amount, making refunds rare.
Impacts and lessons for Bitcoin users
High fee errors reinforce the need for attention when sending transactions, especially with wallets that allow manual configuration. Furthermore, the speed and decentralization of the blockchain turn a simple mistake into significant loss.
Experts warn: "even experienced users should check every detail before confirming transactions." Therefore, small mistakes can lead to million-dollar losses, especially in times of high BTC prices.
The lesson is clear: check all fees and sending fields. Only then can you preserve your financial security, as the blockchain does not forgive carelessness.
