Paxos confirms it’s responsible for $500K mistaken Bitcoin transaction \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Paxos confirms it’s responsible for $500K mistaken Bitcoin transaction cointelegraph.com/news/paxos-confirms-responsible-for-500k-mistaken-bitcoin-transaction

7330 sats \ 19 comments \ @lpop4254 13 Sep 2023 bitcoin

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421 sats \ 10 replies \ @TheBTCManual 14 Sep 2023

The transaction didn't break consensus, If I was a miner in that pool i'd be annoyed I'm not getting to score that payday and would be looking to point my hash rate elsewhere, unless there's so kick back deal they're going to set up, to give miners something for winning that block

It also kinda sets a dangerous precedent that you can just run to miners like they are tech support, I mean what if this was a country that stuffed up, can El Salvador go moan to miners to get their reserves back? Does everyone who stuffs up get to exercise this privilege?

I know if i stuffed up a transaction no ones coming to save me

10 sats \ 4 replies \ @kepford 14 Sep 2023

If F2pool does return the transaction fee it is a market signal to miners to switch pools if they are unhappy. I would be unhappy if I were a miner in that pool. We've probably all over paid for a transaction by mistake. Not to this level but this isn't a pleb. This is a company. No one stole this money. F2pool has agreements with miners and there isn't any such agreement with users of bitcoin and miners. IMO it really isn't F2pool's decision to make here if you get right down to it. If a solo miner had found the block then they would have a choice to make but it would be their choice impacting no one else.

No matter what F2pool does here, asking Twitter in a poll says a lot about the leadership there.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @TheBTCManual 14 Sep 2023

That's my view, unforgiving and ruthless commitment to the rules we all agreed on, I think this is a pretty big deal, if F2Pool hands back the funds that could have maybe kept certain miners a float and given them a healthy windfall, then to me it kinda shows that mining pools have way too much control.

If i'm a miner and you making me miss out on a bag, im jumping ship.

Also for me it kills the whole argument for security budgets and wanting tail emissions and drivechains? Oh you need money? Why you giving it away then because some company f'd up?

We all get rekt if we don't Bitcoin properly, no exceptions

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 14 Sep 2023

I think I get why some people are saying they should return it. They are thinking of this as if you overpaid at a restaurant or something like that. Peer to peer. Lets say I was paying you for lunch in bitcoin and I accidentally paid you more than you asked for. You could send the excess amount back to me. This is using the system as designed. What is happening here is different. We are talking about a software mistake and we aren't talking about paying person to person. This is built into the protocol. Not to mention the agreement the Pool op has with the miners who seem to have no say in this deal.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 14 Sep 2023

Exactly. Pools are a control point. No doubt about it. What should keep them in check are miners that can switch pools. I'm kinda hoping they do return it just so we can see what the actual miners do. They have options unless I'm missing something. I'm not a mining expert but I have been doing homework on that front over the past few months.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 14 Sep 2023

I could be oversimplifying things but it is my understanding that it is easy to switch pools. Change some config in your miners and point your hash to another pool. I mean, at scale that would be a pain but 20 BTC is nothing to scoff at. If I were a miner there is no way I'd stick with a pool op that did this. Just as I'd never use a service like Paxos

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @Bullen 14 Sep 2023

I mean, you can always ask. And honestly, if they won't hand over most of the wrongly accidentally set fee, I'd think they're really selfish and never want to engage with them in any way, shape or form again.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheBTCManual 14 Sep 2023

Whatever happened to he who signs transactions into mempool beware? don't you look at what you're doing when you're signing over millions?

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bullen 14 Sep 2023

Yeah. However mistakes obviously happen😅.

From a quick FST-analysis I'd set safeguards up so as one's not able to submit a transaction with a crazy high fee overpayment, without actively OKing it or something similar.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @ek 14 Sep 2023

As a pleb, I am not sure if you could ask. Or does everyone have easy access to contact mining pools and even get a response?

Imo, this sounds like a bail-out and the miners pointing their hash to f2pool are paying the price for it.

I'd think they're really selfish and never want to engage with them in any way, shape or form again.

You don't have to engage with them. They're just miners.

I know if i stuffed up a transaction no ones coming to save me

This

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bullen 14 Sep 2023

Yeah I don't know how to ask either, more than maybe go on twitter @ing the pool or whatever.

I think it's more than reasonable to keep a space where grave mistakes such as this one can be worked out between the parties involved, instead of simply going "Nope, rules are rules. Overpaying 4000x is on you."

You don't have to engage with them. They're just miners.

I meant that I as in being a miner, wouldn't want to associate myself with and use a pool who wont correct obvious mistakes.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @tmoney 13 Sep 2023

Paxos clients and end users have not been affected and all customer funds are safe.

I'm so relieved. Thanks Paxos Trust Company.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @iguano 14 Sep 2023

lol

8 sats \ 2 replies \ @Atreus 14 Sep 2023

"Paxos is in contact with the miner to recoup the funds.”

How would that even work? "Pretty please Mr. Miner? Be a pal?"

42 sats \ 0 replies \ @Turdinthepunchbowl 14 Sep 2023

I believe f2pool said the other day they were holding that BTC and asking for the sender to contact them within 72 hours. If not then they would be distributing it to their pool. I can't find a source other than I remember hearing it on the Bitcoin And . . . podcast. So it wouldn't really work without the good faith of the miner itself.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @sudonaka 14 Sep 2023

exactly

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @ryu 14 Sep 2023

Never trust, not even yourself!

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @scottathan 14 Sep 2023

Paxos isn’t the first crypto user or company to potentially pay thousands of dollars in fees because of a mistake. In 2019, one Ethereum user lost over $300,000 when they mistakenly pasted values into the wrong fields. Luckily for them, the mining pool agreed to return 50% of the funds lost. In 2020, another Ethereum user mistakenly paid $9,500 for a $120 trade. The user claimed that the mistake had “destroyed [their] life.”

It's always the Ethereum people

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 14 Sep 2023

Yeah, I had the same thought when this happened. Move fast and break things is what I've heard from the Eth people. Well, you broke something didn't you.