Bithumb Addresses 620K Bitcoin Error, Seeks to Calm Market Fears

Key Points

• Bithumb mistakenly distributed excessive Bitcoin rewards, briefly affecting BTC/KRW prices before rapid stabilization.
• The exchange recovered most assets and announced compensation and internal control upgrades.

On February 6, South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange, Bithumb, mistakenly distributed incorrect amounts of Bitcoin (BTC) to some users during a reward event.

Some recipients sold the mistakenly credited BTC, causing a short-lived price fluctuation in the BTC/KRW trading pair that normalized shortly after.

The incident led to misinformation circulating on X, including claims of security breaches and incorrect asset distributions.

Bithumb publicly addressed the situation, explaining the cause, recovery status, and measures taken to protect users.

Incident details and exchange response

Bithumb stated that the issue resulted from an input error when entering the BTC reward amount during the distribution process.

At 19:20 on February 6, the exchange detected the mistake and halted trading and withdrawals within minutes to limit further impact.

According to the exchange, 695 users were affected, with approximately 620,000 BTC mistakenly credited before the suspension.

The temporary selling pressure from some users led to a sharp but brief BTC/KRW price fluctuation confined to the exchange.

Asset recovery and compensation measures

Bithumb reported that 99.7% of the incorrectly distributed BTC, totaling 618,212 BTC, has been successfully recovered.

Of the 1,788 BTC sold during the incident, 93% of the equivalent value in KRW and crypto assets has already been reclaimed.

The exchange confirmed that no external transfers occurred and no hacking or security breach was involved.

Bithumb announced compensation measures, including 110% reimbursement for users who sold at lower prices, fee-free trading for seven days, and the creation of a 100 billion KRW customer protection fund.

The exchange also stated it will strengthen internal controls through enhanced asset verification and multi-layer approval processes.

On February 7, the broader crypto market showed signs of recovery, with Bitcoin trading above $67,000 after briefly falling to the $60,000 range.