An Ethereum trading bot has turned a routine profit-seeking manoeuvre into a costly blunder, accidentally sending 167 ETH — worth nearly $300,000 (£223,000) — to a random wallet and then requesting its return via an on-chain message.
The incident, reported on 5 June 2026, has become a sharp reminder that fast-moving automated trading can go wrong in a single moment. Security tracker PeckShieldAlert flagged the strange on-chain transfer, while later reports confirmed its size at about 167 ETH, or roughly $276,000 (£205,000) to $300,000 (£223,000) depending on the price at the time. The bot operator then posted an on-chain message admitting the mistake and asking the recipient to return most of the funds, reportedly offering a bounty in exchange.
