A South Korean crypto exchange mistakenly sent billions in bitcoin as rewards, causing a price crash before recovering most funds.
SEOUL: South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed over $40 billion worth of bitcoin to customers as promotional rewards. The error triggered a sharp selloff on the platform last Friday.
The exchange apologised for the mistake, confirming it had recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins, valued at approximately $44 billion. Trading and withdrawals were restricted for the 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the erroneous distribution.
Media reports indicate the exchange had intended to give small cash rewards of 2,000 Korean won (RM7.20) or more to each user. Winners instead received a minimum of 2,000 bitcoins each.
“We would like to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to external hacking or security breaches,” Bithumb said in a statement. It confirmed there were no problems with system security or customer asset management.
Bitcoin prices on Bithumb briefly slumped 17% to 81.1 million won following the incident. The price later recovered, last trading at 104.5 million won.
Bithumb is the second-largest crypto exchange in South Korea, trailing the dominant player Upbit.
