What Happened on Bithumb?
South Korea-based crypto exchange Bithumb said it mistakenly sent an excess amount of bitcoin to “some customers,” after an internal distribution error during a promotional event. According to a blog post published Friday, some recipients sold the bitcoin they received, leading to short-lived price disruptions on the platform.
“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers due to the confusion that arose during the payment process for this event,” Bithumb said in a statement translated from Korean. “Bithumb immediately recognized the abnormal transaction through its internal control system and promptly restricted transactions for the relevant account.”
The exchange did not disclose how many accounts were affected or the total amount of bitcoin involved. It said the incident was not linked to an external hack or security breach.
Investor Takeaway
Why Did Prices Drop?
Local media reports said the incident stemmed from a “Random Box” giveaway, where Bithumb planned to distribute prizes of up to 50,000 Korean won. Some participants who were supposed to receive roughly 2,000 won, about $1.36, instead received 2,000 bitcoin, an amount worth more than $139 million at the time.
Recipients who noticed the error reportedly sold the bitcoin quickly, pushing the BTC/KRW pair down by about 15% on Bithumb before controls were imposed. Chosun Daily reported that roughly 3 billion won was withdrawn after sales of the mistakenly credited bitcoin.
Bithumb said its “domino liquidation prevention system” limited further damage and stopped forced liquidations that could have followed the abnormal price move.
How Did Regulators Respond?
South Korean financial authorities said they are reviewing the incident. According to local reports, the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service described the case as serious and said they would examine how the error occurred.
“Given the massive scale of damage, we are treating this incident seriously and will thoroughly investigate the cause,” the regulators reportedly said.
Some affected users posted on social media that their accounts were frozen after the error was detected. Bithumb said account restrictions were applied as part of its response to the abnormal transactions.
Investor Takeaway
What Bithumb Says Comes Next
Bithumb said the incident did not result in losses to customer assets overall. “It is understood that this incident did not result in any loss or damage to customer assets,” the exchange said in its post.
Founded in 2014, Bithumb is one of South Korea’s largest crypto exchanges and has previously faced regulatory and operational scrutiny. The latest incident adds focus on internal controls around promotions, which can carry market risk when automated systems fail.
While the price disruption was brief and limited to Bithumb’s order book, the episode highlights how exchange-specific errors can still produce sharp moves, even in large and liquid assets like bitcoin.
