Ethereum Mining Pool Receives Mysterious $300K Blockchain Payout

Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool received a payout of over 2, 000 ETH (worth $300, 000) just for mining one block on the ethereum blockchain Thursday - a figure gowns about 600 times the network's standard block incentive.

Miners who secure hindrances are programmed to be awarded 3 ETH (about $500) for each and every new purchase block added to the ethereum blockchain. On top of this, there is also a tiny payout fastened to transactions incentivizing miners to validate and include new transactions into a mined block.

Yet, with only 210 validated deals, Sparkpool received 2, ciento tres. 1485 ETH at block out number 7, 238, 290, according to data from ethereum block explorer Blockscout.

As highlighted on Forums by Jimmy Zhong - co-founder of decentralized software platform IOST - the strange activity could be seen as a randomly fluke, with one ethereum user (or perhaps multiple) accidentally attaching abnormally high transaction fees to their payments.

Alternatively, it might be seen as a sign of goodwill from an unknown supporter of the ethereum mining community, which in recent days has recently been divided more than a contentious pitch to change which sort of mining chips can be used by miners seeking to compete for rewards.

Others suggested it could be a less eleemosynary attempt to "wash" money through the ethereum blockchain, obfuscating that it might have been illegitimately obtained.

But if past crypto history is any sign, the possibilities of an innocent human being error is not as outlandish jointly might suppose. Back in July 2014, one bitcoin user fastened 30 bitcoins worth of transaction fees to a 38 bitcoin transaction as a result of to an accidental mistake in typing, an problem that despite enhancements in UX, is not totally uncommon in the industry at large.