South Korean crypto exchange to reimburse some users after $51b error
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South Korean crypto exchange Bithump had intended to award won to winners of a promotion, but an employee keyed in Bitcoin instead.
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION: UNSPLASH
SEOUL – South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, which mistakenly distributed more than US$40 billion (S$51 billion) worth of Bitcoin on Feb 6, said it will reimburse customers who made losses when they sold their holdings in a panic during a brief but sharp sell-off on its platform.
Bithumb had intended to award 620,000 won (S$538) to winners of a promotion, but an employee keyed in Bitcoin instead of the South Korean currency, Yonhap News reported, citing people it did not identify.
The error led to the distribution of 620,000 bitcoin to 695 users at 7pm local time on Feb 6, a mistake that was identified within 20 minutes, the exchange said.
“An abnormal amount of Bitcoin was mistakenly distributed to some users,” the exchange said in a statement.
It added: “As some of the accounts proceeded to sell the credited Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price experienced a brief yet sharp fluctuation.”
On Bithumb, prices on the evening of Feb 6 briefly dropped 17 per cent from 98.29 million won, or about S$85,600, to 81.1 million won, or about S$70,700. Trading volume soared, charts from the exchange showed.
Bithumb started halting trading and withdrawals for the credited accounts at 7.35pm and fully blocked it by 7.40pm, it said. The exchange managed to retrieve 99.7 per cent of the distributed coins.
Chief executive officer Lee Jae-won said some customers who were effectively pushed into “panic‑selling” during the brief window the error occurred will be reimbursed their full loss spread and be awarded an additional 10 per cent bonus.
“We offer our deepest apologies for the confusion and inconvenience,” Mr Lee said in a statement on Feb 7.
He added: “We acknowledge, with a deep sense of responsibility, that we failed to uphold the two core values that define a virtual‑asset exchange – stability and integrity.”
As at 4pm on Feb 7, the company estimated customer losses to be around 1 billion won. Bithumb will use its corporate assets to cover any shortfall to ensure customer balances are restored, it said.
The Financial Services Commission said it convened an emergency inspection meeting on Feb 7, joined by other regulators.
Cryptocurrencies have been on shaky ground ever since a brutal series of liquidations in October 2025 that sapped market confidence. The selling picked up steam this week in line with the unwinding of leveraged bets and broader market turbulence.
Bitcoin rose as much as 13 per cent to US$71,469 on Feb 6. Earlier in the session, it came close to falling below US$60,000 for the first time since October 2024. The token was trading at around US$68,000 on Feb 7. BLOOMBERG
