Ethermine, one of Ethereum's largest mining pools, found itself holding a 10,000 ETH transaction fee worth $2.6 million after someone submitted the payment as part of a series of unusual transactions last week. The pool hoped the sender had made a mistake and asked them to reach out.
Ethermine to distribute $2.6 million transactions to miners
Ethermine, one of Ethereum's largest mining pools, found itself holding a 10,000 ETH transaction fee worth $2.6 million after someone submitted the payment as part of a series of unusual transactions
Key Points
- Ethermine, one of Ethereum's largest mining pools, found itself holding a 10,000 ETH transaction fee worth $2.6 million after someone submitted the payment as part of a series of unusual transactions
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No one reached out, so after four days Ethermine distributed the windfall across its miners. Each miner will pocket rewards equal to five days of standard mining. The pool said four days was enough time for the sender to claim the fee if the transaction was accidental.
Dovey Wan, a founding partner at Primitive Ventures, offered a different explanation for what happened. He ruled out money laundering, calling it "a stupid way to launder money." A scheme like that would require miners to collude and help cycle the funds back, which would expose them. A transaction this large would draw attention from the entire community watching the chain. Money launderers avoid that kind of attention.
Wan instead suggested blackmail. The unknown sender faces constraints on where coins can go, with certain addresses whitelisted and others blocked. A hacker with some control over the wallet might be draining it on purpose, Wan reasoned. By loading these enormous fees into exchanges, they could pressure an exchange to pay a ransom to resolve the situation.
MiningPool content is intended for information and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.
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