Bitfinex Crypto Exchange Mistakenly Sends $24 Million Worth of Tether in ‘Fat Finger Error’

The incident is being called a typical case of “fat finger” error – indicating that it was purely a careless mistake that costed a fortune.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 30 September 2021 16:53 IST

Bitfinex Crypto Exchange Mistakenly Sends $24 Million Worth of Tether in ‘Fat Finger Error’

Bitfinex had mistakenly sent $24 million in an Ethereum transaction to a high-ranking miner

Highlights

Bitfinex crypto exchange got back most of $24 million
The hefty sum was mistakenly sent during a crypto transaction
The transaction was based on Ethereum blockchain

Bitfinex, a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange, got back over $22 million (roughly over Rs. 163 crores) worth of Tether cryptocurrency that had been spent by mistake. Earlier this week, Bitfinex mistakenly paid $24 million (roughly Rs.178 crores) in fees while sending $100,000 (Rs. 74.2 lakhs) of Ether. The actual fee was just $33 (roughly Rs. 2,449). The amount was deducted from one of Bitfinex's mail wallets. People have been calling the incident a classic “fat finger” error.

"On the 27th September a deposit transaction was made using a hardware wallet from the main DeversiFi user interface," news portal TheBlockCrypto quoted a spokesperson for DeversiFi as saying.

The hefty Tether transaction was transferred to an unknown high-ranking Ethereum miner, who returned the sum.

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While the exact reason for this error remains unknown, DeversiFi has claimed that it has launched an investigation into the subject.

It also remains unclear what will happen to the balance over $2 million (roughly Rs. 15 crores) that still have not been returned to Bitfinex's cryptocurrency wallet.

Meanwhile, as reported by Business Insider, Ethereum transaction fees have witnessed an increment following the heavy use of this blockchain network.

In June 2020, two Ethereum transactions collectively added up to a gas fee of $5.2 million (roughly Rs. 38.6 crores).

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: Bitfinex, Hong Kong, DeversiFi, crypto-exchange, $24 million, Ethereum Tether

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More