A major South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, has admitted to mistakenly distributing more than $40 billion (£32 billion) worth of bitcoin to customers — briefly turning hundreds of users into crypto millionaires.
The error occurred when the company intended to issue a small promotional reward of 2,000 won (about $1.37) to users. Instead, due to a technical glitch, it mistakenly credited recipients with 2,000 bitcoins each.
Bithumb said the mistake was detected quickly, and trading and withdrawals for 695 affected accounts were frozen within 35 minutes of the incident. The company claims it has since recovered 99.7% of the approximately 620,000 bitcoins that were incorrectly distributed.
In a statement, the exchange emphasized that the incident was not the result of hacking or a security breach, insisting customer assets and platform security remain intact.
> “This matter has nothing to do with external hacking or system vulnerabilities,” Bithumb said.
Regulators Step In
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) announced it will review the incident following an emergency meeting. Officials warned that any evidence of illegal activity could trigger a formal investigation.
Bithumb’s CEO, Lee Jae-won, pledged full cooperation with regulators and promised stronger safeguards going forward.
> “We will take this incident as a serious lesson and prioritize customer trust and stability over rapid growth,” he said.
Compensation and System Upgrades Planned
To restore confidence, Bithumb announced it will:
Pay 20,000 won ($13.66) in compensation to all active users at the time of the error
Waive trading fees for affected customers
Upgrade its verification systems
Introduce AI-based monitoring tools to detect abnormal transactions in real time
A Broader Industry Wake-Up Call
The incident is expected to intensify global conversations around financial safeguards and crypto regulation, highlighting the risks of automated transaction systems.
A similar case occurred in April 2024, when Citigroup mistakenly credited a customer $81 trillion instead of $280 — an error that was reversed only after multiple employees failed to catch it.
