The Largest Mining Pool Addresses Transaction Error
Foundry USA Pool, the largest Bitcoin mining pool by hash rate, recently returned a transaction fee of 8.18 BTC, worth approximately $777,000. The fee was mistakenly overpaid during a transaction included in block 875475, mined on December 19. The error caused the fee to be 91,127 times higher than necessary.
Refund of the Overpayment
After identifying the error, Foundry contacted the sender and returned the overpaid amount following verification. The mining pool emphasized that this incident did not affect payouts to its regular customers. Their payment system excludes the three highest and three lowest transaction fees daily.
In an official statement on Twitter, Foundry stated:
โWe have received numerous messages from across the industry and want to thank everyone who reached out on the userโs behalf. Please note that this decision was made after thorough consideration, and we will continue to address such cases individually.โ
Similar Incidents in Recent Months
This is not an isolated case. In November 2023, the Antpool mining pool returned a $3 million transaction fee mistakenly paid by a user. That incident involved 83 BTC, which were temporarily frozen until the senderโs identity was verified.
Foundryโs Dominance in the Industry
Foundry remains the largest mining pool, with a hash rate of 273.6 EH/s, significantly outpacing Antpool, which has a hash rate of 146.7 EH/s. According to Hashrate Index, Foundry controls about 38% of the market share, while Antpool accounts for around 18%.
Foundryโs Layoffs
The refund comes shortly after the announcement that Foundry laid off 60% of its workforce as part of a restructuring strategy. Of the original 250 employees, around 160 to 170 were laid off, including entire teams focused on ASIC hardware repairs. However, mining pool operations remained unaffected. There are speculations that Foundry is exploring the sale of its operational team managing Bitcoin mining sites.
Summary
Foundry USA Pool continues to lead the mining industry despite recent layoffs and unexpected incidents with overpaid transaction fees. This case highlights the importance of thorough verification in Bitcoin network transactions.
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