Ordinals Trader Reclaims Bitcoin Following Mistaken NFT Acquisition

Last updated:
March 1, 2024 12:54 EST
| 2 min read

On the first of March, a tale of an accidental transaction by a crypto enthusiast took social media by storm, as the individual, known as PrincePablos on platform X, mistakenly bought an NFT for ten times its listed price.

PrincePablos parted with 0.21 BTC (valued at approximately \$12,877), instead of the listed 0.021 BTC (around \$1,287), due to an unintentional input error during the transaction.

Costly Mistake with a $10K Difference

PrincePablos opened up about the mistake on his Twitter, hoping to prevent others from making the same oversight. The recommendation was clear: double-check digital asset transactions carefully before confirming them.

Biggest mistake since I entered ordinals. It was the last amount I had in my wallet too. Embarasssed and feeling sick but I wanted to share just incase it reminds one person to double check shit. One lucky person has just received a shitload of money.#PMB pic.twitter.com/dPhm5G8FVq

— PrincePablos (@PrincePablos) March 1, 2024

Responding to the mishap, Dan Anderson, a user on X, commented on the situation, revealing himself as the seller of the NFT and offering a refund to PrincePablos.

Anderson proposed to repurchase the NFT at the mistaken rate to rectify the situation, an offer which was accepted, returning the 0.21 BTC to PrincePablos.

Hey, this was my listing. I made you an offer on it for 0.21 BTC, so you can accept that and be well again.

I listed it at 0.21 BTC because it’s dank not to fish for a fat finger. I was like “huzzah” tho until I saw your post. https://t.co/yczB6TOAAz

— Dan Anderson (@droplister) March 1, 2024

The erroneous deal occurred on the Magic Eden NFT marketplace, a venue for creators to trade their digital collectibles.

Bitcoin Ordinals are a distinctive form of NFTs, making waves due to their unique method of inscription on satoshis, the smallest divisible units of Bitcoin. They stand out as valuable and individualized pieces of crypto art, with each Ordinal representing a particular sequence number correlating to its position on the Bitcoin blockchain.

The Genesis Block, or the very first block on the Bitcoin blockchain, for instance, carries historical importance. An Ordinal from this block would be immensely prized as a piece of Bitcoin’s origin.

Bitcoin Ordinals have gained popularity with collectors due to their rarity and the novel way they represent and commemorate Bitcoin’s history and significance as a leading digital currency.

Turning a Misfortune Around After a High-Stakes Typo

While PrincePablos was relieved to receive a refund, many others have not been so fortunate with their own typographical errors. A previous incident involved an OpenSea collector entering a 100 ETH bid on an NFT meant to be virtually free-of-cost.

Yeah someone else put the 100ETH bid by mistake (He probably want to bid 100 as amount) and it got accepted by another one with 1500+ gwei gas

— 0xSun (@0xSunNFT) April 5, 2023

While the fate of the ETH in the bid was not disclosed, there have been other instances of mis-sent funds leading to extreme outcomes, such as an Australian man disappearing after mistakenly receiving about \$500,000 from Rhino Trading Pty Ltd.

In another episode, a Melbourne couple faced court proceedings accused of theft after mistakenly spending AU\$10.5 million, erroneously transferred to their account by Crypto.com in 2021 and spent before the mistake was detected.