Share this article
Ethereum Mining Pool Receives Mysterious $300K Blockchain Payout
Cryptocurrency mining pool Sparkpool received a payout today of over $300,000 for mining one block on the ethereum blockchain.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:54 a.m. Published Feb 19, 2019, 5:30 p.m.
Ethereum mining pool Sparkpool received a payout of over 2,000 ETH (worth $300,000) just for mining one block on the ethereum blockchain Tuesday – a figure that's about 600 times the network's standard block reward.
Miners who secure blocks are programmed to be awarded 3 ETH (about $500) for every new transaction block added to the ethereum blockchain. On top of this, there is also a small payout attached to transactions incentivizing miners to validate and include new transactions into a mined block.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Yet, with only 210 validated transactions, Sparkpool received 2,103.1485 ETH at block number 7,238,290, according to data from ethereum block explorer Blockscout.
As highlighted on Twitter by Jimmy Zhong – co-founder of decentralized application platform IOST – the strange activity could be seen as a random fluke, with one ethereum user (or perhaps multiple) accidentally attaching abnormally high transaction fees to their payments.
Alternatively, it could be seen as a sign of goodwill from an anonymous supporter of the ethereum mining community, which in recent days has been divided over a contentious proposal to change which type of mining chips can be employed by miners seeking to compete for rewards.
Others suggested it could be a less altruistic attempt to "wash" money through the ethereum blockchain, obfuscating that it might have been illegitimately acquired.
But if past crypto history is any indicator, the likelihood of an innocent human error is not as outlandish as one might assume. Back in July 2014, one bitcoin user attached 30 bitcoins worth of transaction fees to a 38 bitcoin transaction due to an accidental error in typing, an error that despite enhancements in UX, is not altogether uncommon in the industry at large.
Ethereum image via Shutterstock
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Federal Reserve Cuts Rates 25 Basis Points, With Two Members Voting for Steady Policy
The anticipated move comes as policymakers are still operating without several key economic data releases that remain delayed or suspended due to the U.S. government shutdown.
What to know:
- As expected, the Federal Reserve trimmed its benchmark fed funds rate range by 25 basis points on Wednesday afternoon.
- Today's cut is notable given the unusually large amount of public dissension among Fed members for further monetary ease.
- Two Fed members dissented from the rate cut, preferring instead to hold rates steady, while one member voted for a 50 basis point rate cut.
Top Stories
