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Marathon Digital, a major Bitcoin mining company, recently confirmed that it mined an invalid Bitcoin block valued at $26,378 during an internal “experiment” aimed at optimizing operations. The event drew attention within the cryptocurrency sector but was quickly resolved by the firm.
In a statement issued on September 27, Marathon explained that these experiments utilize only a small portion of the company’s hashrate and do not aim to manipulate the Bitcoin network. The company stressed, “In no way was this experiment an attempt to alter Bitcoin Core in any way.” The mistake was corrected immediately upon discovery.
Marathon stated that the bug causing the invalid block came from its internal development environment. It was unrelated to Marathon’s Bitcoin production pool or Bitcoin Core, the main software used to connect to the Bitcoin network and operate a node.
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The event took place on September 26 at 9:42 pm UTC on block 809478, according to mempool.space. Bitcoin developers and BitMEX Research noted that the invalid block was caused by a “transaction ordering issue.” Bitcoin developer “mononaut” indicated that Marathon erred by reordering transactions based on ascending absolute fees.
Bitcoin analyst Dylan LeClair and other critics argued that Marathon should have performed such tests on a testnet rather than the live Bitcoin mainnet to prevent similar problems.
Reflecting on the event, Marathon noted that Bitcoin “functioned exactly as designed” by excluding the invalid block from its blockchain. This incident inadvertently showcased the strong security of the Bitcoin network, which quickly rejected and corrected the anomaly.
Despite the disruption, data from Google Finance shows that Marathon Digital’s stock price (MARA) dropped by 2.91% during the opening trading hours on September 27. Although the incident sparked some concern, it also highlighted the resilience of the Bitcoin network in handling unexpected challenges, further solidifying its reputation as a secure and reliable decentralized system.
The post Marathon Digital Mining Invalid Bitcoin Block in Experiment, Fixes Issue Quickly appeared first on BitcoinWorld.
