A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange accidentally sent customers more than 40 billion dollars in bitcoin. The mistake briefly turned some users into multimillionaires. The company had planned to give a small reward of 2,000 won, worth about 1.37 dollars. Instead, it sent 2,000 bitcoins to customers on Friday.
The platform Bithumb apologised for the error and explained the incident. The company said it quickly noticed the mistake and recovered nearly all missing tokens. It restricted trading and withdrawals for 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the glitch.
Exchange Recovers Nearly All Misplaced Bitcoin
Bithumb said it retrieved 99.7 percent of the 620,000 bitcoins mistakenly sent. The company stressed that hackers did not cause the incident. It said system security and customer asset management remained fully intact.
South Korea’s financial regulator held an emergency meeting on Saturday to review the case. The Financial Supervisory Service said any sign of illegal activity would trigger formal investigations.
Company Promises Compensation and System Enhancements
Bithumb said it would cooperate fully with regulators. Chief executive Lee Jae-won said the company would prioritise customer trust and peace of mind over external growth.
The company plans to pay 20,000 won in compensation to all customers using the platform at the time. It will waive trading fees and introduce additional measures. Bithumb said it would strengthen verification systems and implement artificial intelligence to detect abnormal transactions.
Error Sparks Debate About Financial Oversight
The incident is likely to spark renewed discussion about stricter financial regulation. In April 2024, Citigroup mistakenly credited 81 trillion dollars instead of 280 dollars to a customer account. Two employees failed to notice the error, but a third employee detected it and reversed the transaction within hours, according to the Financial Times.
