The entity behind the strange transaction fees recorded on the Ethereum blockchain has revealed itself as the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange platform GoodCycle.
The entity paid a very strange transaction fee of 2.5 million dollars not once but twice to move small sums of Ethereum. According to the blockchain analytics firm PeckShield, the crypto exchange is a Ponzi project that has many security flaws and is easily hacked.
Strange transaction fees
A week ago, the Ethereum blockchain recorded two transactions that moved tiny amounts of Ethereum. The transactions would have remained under the radar if not for the enormous transaction fee paid for them. The transactions moved nearly 87,000 dollars worth of Ethereum for a fee of 5.2 million dollars.
Initially, the user moved 0.55 ETH for a fee of 10,668 ETH, which caused people to believe that the person made an error while sending the amount. However, a few hours later the user moved 350 ETH, again for a fee of 10,668 ETH.
This caused people to believe that either the person moving the sum was laundering money, or a hacker who was blackmailing a cryptocurrency exchange after taking control of it.
So who was it?
The Korean exchange behind the transactions has a history of being breached. The exchange has a flawed security system that can be easily hacked. The exchange’s website confirms that it has been breached “repeatedly.”
The exchange has also sent transactions towards Ethermine and SparkPool – the mining pools that received the strange transaction fee – with a message reading, “I am the sender.”
As of now, both mining pools seem to have plans for distributing the fee among miners. However, with GoodCycle revealing itself, it remains unclear what move the mining pools will make.
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