In a staggering administrative error, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb inadvertently distributed over $40 billion worth of bitcoin to customers on Friday, temporarily transforming hundreds of account holders into instant millionaires. The platform had intended to issue modest cash rewards of 2,000 won (approximately $1.37) but instead credited 2,000 bitcoins to each recipient due to a critical system malfunction.
The exchange detected the catastrophic error within 35 minutes, immediately implementing trading and withdrawal restrictions for the 695 affected accounts. According to Bithumb’s official statement, the company successfully recovered 99.7% of the erroneously distributed 620,000 bitcoins, emphasizing that the incident resulted from an internal processing error rather than external hacking or security vulnerabilities.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) convened an emergency meeting Saturday to examine the unprecedented incident, warning that any indications of illegal activity would trigger formal investigations. Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won pledged full cooperation with regulators, acknowledging the need to prioritize customer trust over external growth initiatives.
As remediation measures, Bithumb announced compensation of 20,000 won ($13.66) for all platform users during the incident period, along with waived trading fees. The exchange committed to implementing enhanced verification systems and artificial intelligence detection mechanisms for abnormal transactions.
This incident echoes similar high-value financial errors, including Citigroup’s April 2024 miscalculation that erroneously credited $81 trillion instead of $280 to a client account. The Bithumb case is expected to intensify regulatory scrutiny and debate surrounding operational safeguards within cryptocurrency exchanges and traditional financial institutions alike.