TLDR
- A crypto user accidentally spent $90,000 in fees for a $2,200 Ethereum transfer
- The user paid 34.26 ETH in gas fees to transfer 0.87 ETH
- Normal gas fees for such a transfer should be around $5
- This type of mistake is called a “fat finger” transaction
- Similar costly errors have occurred before in crypto transactions
On August 11, 2024, a crypto user made a costly mistake while transferring Ethereum (ETH). The user spent 34.26 ETH, worth about $90,000, in gas fees to transfer just 0.87 ETH, valued at $2,200. This incident was reported by a user named DeFiac on social media platform X.
Someone just burned ~$90k on tx fee for a simple eth transfer. pic.twitter.com/R9beCnNZv1
— DeFiac (@TheDEFIac) August 11, 2024
Gas fees are the costs users pay to process transactions on the Ethereum network. At the time of the transaction, gas fees were at yearly lows, between 2 and 4 gwei.
This means a normal transfer should have cost no more than $5. The user overpaid by more than 1,783,900%.
This type of mistake is known as a “fat finger” transaction. It happens when a user accidentally enters the wrong amount for a transaction. These errors are not uncommon in the crypto world.
Other examples of costly mistakes have occurred in the past. In October 2023, an NFT trader paid 1,055 ETH (about $1.6 million at the time) for an NFT that only cost $1,000. In April of the same year, another user spent 100 ETH ($191,000) on a free NFT mint.
It’s not just individual users who make these errors. In May 2021, the crypto exchange Crypto.com accidentally sent $7 million to an Australian user, Thevamanogari Manivel.
Manivel used the money to buy a mansion and send funds overseas. She was later sentenced to 209 days in jail for her actions.
While such overpayments might be accidents, some experts suggest they could be a form of money laundering. This would require the user to know which Ethereum validator would process the transaction and work closely with them.
A report from October 2023 by crypto staking firm Northstake found that illicit and high-risk activity on some Ethereum protocols ranged from 0.46% to 1.56%. While this percentage is low, it has raised concerns among regulated entities interested in Ethereum-based decentralized finance.
As of August 2024, gas fees on the Ethereum network remain low, typically costing between $2 and $5 for a standard transfer. This makes the recent $90,000 fee incident even more unusual.
These incidents highlight the importance of double-checking transaction details in cryptocurrency transfers. Even small mistakes can lead to significant financial losses.
Users are advised to be careful when entering transaction information and to use trusted platforms for their crypto activities.
The crypto community continues to discuss ways to prevent such costly errors. Some suggest implementing additional confirmation steps for unusually high fees. Others propose better user interfaces to make fee structures clearer.
