Recently, I saw a news feed about an abnormally high fee paid by a user for a transfer of 2.9 BTC. The system charged the poor man a fee of almost 4 BTC, which is 133% of the transfer amount and equal to $172,000 in fiat money. What a commission, right? So now I want to share with you typical mistakes of blockchain advocates that can lead to similar and even worse consequences.
I will say right away: do not worry about the hero of the news that inspired me to tell the story. It will not be harmed and will recover the assets seized because it happened accidentally due to a blockchain error, which is 29,992 times the true value of the transaction. Attention was drawn to the situation when an anomalous flow of assets for the vByte indicator of this user was recorded. Instead of the usual 60 sat/vB, the system counted 1,800,890 sat/vB.
— But transactions in the blockchain are irreversible and cannot be edited! — you will say and you will be absolutely right. Indeed, it is impossible to correct erroneous calculations and charges and they will forever remain stored in the blocks of the distributed database. However, the world knows many examples where assets were returned to former owners as a new transaction, and not after canceling the previous one. This is common practice, especially when it comes to system, network, and developer bugs. For example, also recently, the mining pool F2Pool returned $500,000 to a user because he reported that he had sent the money by mistake. And even earlier, Antrhool compensated miners $3.1 billion for losses due to technical reasons.
However, not all cases end well and transparently. When it comes to money, and especially big money, not all people behave honestly and understand the problems of others. This is especially unforeseeable when the loss of assets occurred precisely because of your fault - a mistake or inattention. At such a moment, one has to hope only for the success and honesty of others. So the best thing is not to make mistakes. Now I will tell you about the 5 most common of them.
Invalid address
It's like the $500K case — you're sending assets, but not to who needs them. Bitcoin wallet addresses are 26 to 35 characters long, and Ethereum wallet addresses are 42 characters long. A mistake in at least one of them, and in the best case, the transaction simply will not take place, in the worst case; your coins will fly in an unknown direction. Since the blockchain works in a decentralized network, it is simply impossible to get data about the owner of the wallet or to contact him.
If you've mistakenly sent a small amount of coins or tokens, it's best to immediately abandon the idea of finding out who exactly. You will find a lot of ads for services to establish the identities of crypto wallet owners, but all of them are too expensive. In addition, almost half of such ads are posted by fraudsters. And this is the next mistake.
Fraud
Yes, the world of cryptocurrencies and scams are just made for each other. A complex technology with a large number of features and concepts certainly arouses interest, but at the same time creates chaos in understanding. On the other hand, again, anonymity, which gives any would-be fraudster carte blanche for illegal activities?
In fact, even now, society has become more aware of blockchain technology, which has reduced the field of activity for dishonest people. However, when someone invents a better mouse, someone else invents a better mousetrap. Therefore, the general advice is to follow the general safety rules, and in no case give others your personal data and information about your crypto wallets. And most importantly, never believe those who offer "easy money" or something "free".
Storage of cryptocurrency is not in the wallet
This is a mistake common to the new generation of cryptocurrency owners who are just starting to learn about this topic. In most cases, it all starts with a crypto exchange where people can buy or sell assets with less risk. The exchange provides an opportunity to store all assets directly in itself and that is great: reliable protection, a single place, quick access... However, almost no one pays attention to the main aspect: cryptocurrency on the exchange is not your property. As long as you don't have the private key to the wallet, you don't own the assets in it. Therefore, there are quite common cases when during market collapses or other stressful factors, access to the exchange is impossible or transaction restrictions are set. Unfortunately, in such situations, the exchanges are completely right, and you only lose the chance.
Only store cryptocurrencies in your own secure wallets. Only you should determine the fate of your assets, where and when to invest or convert it. This is the only way you can choose the most reliable wallet, in your opinion, instead of agreeing to sometimes dubious promises from exchanges.
Haste
This is not a technical, but quite a common mistake, common to many people in all spheres of life and activity. You can rush with cryptocurrencies only in one case — when a coin or token collapses and this is confirmed by official sources. For example, the collapse of FTX in November 2022. Under other circumstances, hurrying is not only not worth it, but even harmful! Investments involve a long-term strategy. Unfortunately, only 0.01% of all participants in the process are lucky enough to get rich quick. So don't rely on success — it's better to go for it consistently!
Losing the key
The most banal, but, unfortunately, common mistake. Forgetting your password, passphrase, or losing your private key is the worst and easiest thing that can happen. Each of us has seen the news about poor people who don't remember how to get to their wallets, where millions or even billions of assets lie. In such cases, no one will help you, because the blockchain is devoid of names or the usual support service that will help you recover your account password.
Do not be afraid to make your own mistakes — without them, you will definitely not succeed. But pay attention to my text and do not do what I have listed. Remember: someone has already made these mistakes and shared them so that it will be easier for you later in life! Please leave a like if you liked the article. To be continued.
