According to ChainCatcher, the highest hash rate Bitcoin mining pool, Foundry USA Pool, has refunded an accidentally paid Bitcoin transaction fee worth approximately $777,000 (8.18 BTC).
On December 19, Foundry USA Pool mined Bitcoin block 875475, which included a transaction where the sender attached a fee of 8.18 BTC, exceeding the necessary fee by 91,127 times.
On Friday, Foundry posted on social media that it had contacted the sender who 'accidentally' paid the fee. The mining pool confirmed that it refunded the transaction fee to the sender 'after careful consideration'; otherwise, the fee would have been allocated to the mining customers contributing hash power to the Foundry pool.
"Please note that this decision was made after careful thought, and we will continue to handle such cases based on specific circumstances," Foundry added.
This is not the first time a large Bitcoin mining pool has refunded an unusually high Bitcoin transaction fee due to an unexpected event. In November 2023, Antpool refunded a transaction fee of 83.6 BTC, which was worth $3.1 million at the time.
Currently, Foundry USA Pool has a hash rate of about 280 EH/s, almost double that of its closest competitor, Antpool.
