In a stunning mishap, a bitcoin user mistakenly paid a whopping 4 BTC, equivalent to $172,000, as a transaction fee for transferring just 2.9 BTC. This extraordinary commission, 133% of the transaction value, is a staggering 29,992 times higher than the average network fee, currently $11.35. The incident, spotted by Whale Alert, a service tracking large cryptocurrency transfers, has sparked intense debate. While some suggest a simple error, others speculate on potential money laundering activities. according to Hash Telegraph.

Exorbitant fees are not new to Bitcoin; in November 2023, an unidentified user paid 83.65 BTC, over $3.1 million, citing a wallet hack. The AntPool mining pool, which received this fee, later agreed to refund it. Similarly, in September 2023, Paxos accidentally paid a $520k fee for a $2k transaction. The miner f2pool, recipient of this commission, returned the funds.