Fat Finger? Crypto Trader Pays $92,000 Transaction Fee to Move $2,000 in ETH

As a seasoned crypto investor with roots tracing back to Ethereum’s early days at around $450, I can’t help but feel a mix of shock and amusement when reading about a trader spending an exorbitant $92,000 in fees for a simple ETH transfer. It’s like swapping a loaf of bread for a house!


As an analyst, I’ve observed an instance where a cryptocurrency trader incurred a substantial fee of approximately $92,000 to transfer around $2,300 worth of the second-largest digital currency, Ethereum ($ETH), within the Ethereum blockchain network.

Based on blockchain information from Etherscan, initially identified by on-chain analyst DeFiac on social media platform X (previously known as Twitter), it appears that a trader shelled out approximately $90,000 in fees for a straightforward Ethereum transaction.

Someone just burned ~$90k on tx fee for a simple eth transfer.

— DeFiac (@TheDEFIac) August 11, 2024

According to BitInfoCharts data, the typical Ethereum transaction fee is approximately $2.1 at this moment. This fee is significantly lower than what users usually pay for their transactions and even pales in comparison to the record-high transaction fee of around $200 seen back in May 2022.

In simpler terms, Defiac stated that the transaction doesn’t seem to be associated with money laundering because the block containing the transaction was verified by Coinbase, a NASDAQ-listed cryptocurrency exchange.

Due to this incident, the investigator hypothesized it as an unintentional error by the trader, often referred to as a “fat finger” mistake, which led to a loss of approximately $90,000 in fees for the trader. Notably, this trader has been actively participating since December 2017, a time when Ethereum’s value was roughly $450 per unit.

According to him, users can prevent similar errors by utilizing a wallet equipped with fee management capabilities. If transactions are produced via a script, he advises users to first test their transactions on a network branch (fork) prior to executing them on the main network.

As a long-term cryptocurrency investor with over five years of experience, I find myself increasingly concerned about the recent underperformance of Ethereum relative to Bitcoin. Having closely monitored the ETH/BTC ratio for several months now, I’ve noticed a worrying trend: the ratio has plunged to its lowest point since April 2021, reaching a precarious 0.044. This indicates that Ethereum’s strength relative to Bitcoin is at an all-time low. As someone who has seen the ups and downs of this market over the years, I believe it’s important to pay attention to these developments and reassess one’s investment strategy accordingly. The current state of the ETH/BTC ratio suggests that now might be a good time to rebalance my portfolio or consider diversifying into other cryptocurrencies.

As per information from prominent digital asset data provider CCData, Ethereum (ETH) has consistently lagged behind Bitcoin in terms of performance. On the other hand, Solana, a competitor to ETH, has gone against this trend, with the ratio of SOL to ETH (SOL/ETH) gradually increasing and approaching a fresh record high.

As a seasoned crypto investor with years of experience under my belt, I have noticed a notable shift in the market dynamics between Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). Recently, the ETH/BTC ratio has plunged to its lowest level since April 2021, currently standing at 0.044. This indicates that Ethereum has significantly underperformed compared to Bitcoin in recent times.— CCData (@CCData_io) August 6, 2024

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2024-08-14 03:12