Bitcoin Foundation Receives $65,000 from Mystery Mining Pool

Half of the proceeds from an apparently errant bitcoin transaction, in which 291 BTC (then $136,000) was sent as a fee, has been given away by the recipient mining pool.

The Bitcoin Foundation said today that it received 146 BTC ($65,000) from BitClub, which on 27th April received the fee as part of block 409,008 on the network. The transaction drew notable industry attention and media coverage, given that the average transaction fee at the time was 31 satoshis, or less than $0.01.

Following the incident, BitClub issued a public call for the individual behind the transaction to come forward. Should no users step forward to identify themselves, BitClub said, it would seek to donate the funds, with the Bitcoin Foundation being named as one of the possible recipients.

At press time, it remains unclear which additional entity or entities received the remaining 145 BTC. Further, analysis of the transaction suggests the actual bitcoins sent to the Foundation were not those received in the original fee transaction. Representatives for BitClub were unresponsive to attempts for additional clarity.

Bitcoin Foundation executive director Bruce Fenton said the funds will go toward the organization’s existing efforts, including funding education and public outreach as well as its DevCore conference series.

"The Bitcoin Foundation funding will be used for existing projects as well as new initiatives that will foster community dialogue and encourage an efficient development process of bitcoin technology," the organization said.

Additionally, the donation will help fund a research grant on the study of bitcoin security issues, to be conducted by Nick Szabo, the cryptographer credited with coining the term “smart contracts” as well as the tech’s key underlying concepts.

The funding follows a tumultuous period for the foundation in which two board members resigned or were replaced, and as the organization was said to be running out of funding for operations.

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