Every time someone sends a Bitcoin transaction, they must include a transaction fee to ensure the transfer is confirmed on the network. Over the past few years, there have been quite a few Bitcoin transactions with erroneous fees. Thankfully, most of the transaction fees have been returned, either partially or in full. Most companies and users are very honest in this regard, even though they have no obligation to send the money back in the first place.
#3 The 30 bitcoin Transaction Fee
In 2014, one bitcoin user erroneously sent a transaction containing a 30 BTC fee to someone else. Unfortunately, it was way too late to reverse the transaction in question. As it turned out, the transaction was picked up by the BTCGuild mining pool, and a partial refund was issued. One of the issues when mining pools pick up this transaction, is how they may have already distributed funds among their miners, which is exactly what happened in this case.
Thankfully, the mining pool was able to refund part of the transaction fee. 7.5 BTC was returned to the person who broadcasted the transfer to the bitcoin network. Although this is only a quarter of the initial fee, it is still more than what anyone could hope for. The fact no one can chargeback a bitcoin transaction leads to costly mistakes at times.
#2 Friedcat Refunds 200 BTC TX Fee
Whenever a bitcoin transaction hits the network, and its transaction fee is 200 BTC, people know something is wrong. A cryptocurrency user broadcasted a transaction which was picked up by the ASICMINER pool. However, that 200 BTC fee was not intended, or so it appeared at first. Even though the person initiating the transfer had over 10,000 bitcoin in the wallet at that time, this unusually high fee transfer raised a lot of questions.
Considering how the money was returned to a different wallet address, some Reddit users felt this was a blatant money laundering effort. Then again, anyone with a bitcoin balance deserves a chance to recuperate obnoxious transaction fees. It has never been proven the sender did something illegal, but it was good to see Friedcat return the funds promptly and without complaints.
#1 Block 409,008
The most recent bitcoin transaction fee mishap came in the form of one transaction found in network block #409,008. This particular transfer came with a 291.241 BTC fee and was picked up by the BitClub mining pool. That was good news for the person who initiated the transfer. Had an individual miner picked it up, rectifying the situation would have been far more difficult.
Although BitClub had no obligation to return the money, they were willing to do so. One condition had to be met, though, as the sender would have to verify he or she had access to the wallet from which the transfer initiated. Unfortunately, an early investigation revealed the money was potentially coming from a bitcoin mixing service, which made it impossible to return the fee. It remains unclear to this very day if the funds were ever claimed or returned.
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