Damn 😩

🚨 Costly Mistake: Someone Paid 8.18 BTC in Fees! 😬

A recent transaction reveals an accidental fee payment of 8.18 $BTC likely intended to be around ($0.66). The transaction appears to be an attempted Thorchain swap of #ETH for #USDT

The transaction includes 8 inputs but seems to have been designed for just 1 input. The additional inputs appear to have been consolidated without updating the change output, resulting in a massive fee overpayment. The output values sum to exactly 2,416 sats less than the first input value, which would have been a sensible fee for an 11.25 sats/vB rate.

The OP_RETURN content, a standard #Thorchain protocol format, indicates an ETH-format address with prior Thorchain activity. This suggests the issue may have originated in Thorchain wallet software or from manual transaction editing.

Possible Causes:

1. Wallet Software Bug: A flaw in Thorchain wallet software might have caused unnecessary inputs to be included without recalculating the change.

2. Manual Error: A poorly executed attempt to edit an existing transaction (e.g., to adjust fees) could have led to this.

3. Improper #UTXO Selection: Additional inputs were likely added without properly balancing the transaction.

Can This Be Recovered?

Unfortunately, recovery is difficult:

Miner Goodwill: If the miner hasn’t claimed the fee, they might refund it. However, this is rare since most miners prioritize processing fees automatically.

Thorchain Support: If it’s a wallet issue, contacting Thorchain developers or wallet providers could help, but compensation isn’t guaranteed.

Community Awareness: Publicizing the error might encourage the involved parties to assist.

This incident highlights how important it is to have robust wallet software and user awareness in the crypto space. If Thorchain or wallet software is at fault, they may need to investigate and implement safeguards to prevent similar issues in the future.

Have you experienced or seen anything similar?
$BTC