Epic Blunder: South Korean Exchange "Slip-up" Sends Out $44 Billion in Error
In a major operational error, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb mistakenly distributed Bitcoin worth over $44 billion to users, causing a sharp drop in the platform’s Bitcoin price and triggering a regulatory review.
The incident occurred when Bithumb intended to issue a promotional cash payment of 2,000 won (approx. $1.4) per user. Due to a system error, 695 users each received at least 2,000 Bitcoin instead. The exchange restricted trading and withdrawals within 35 minutes and has since recovered 99.7% of the wrongly distributed Bitcoin.
As a result, Bitcoin prices on Bithumb temporarily plunged by 17% before partially recovering. South Korea’s Financial Services Commission described the incident as exposing "the vulnerability and risks of virtual assets" and announced plans to examine internal controls and operations at Bithumb and other exchanges. If violations are found, on-site inspections will follow.
Bithumb attributed the mistake to an internal operational error and emphasized that it was not caused by external hacking or security breaches. Approximately 0.3% of the Bitcoin, worth around $132 million, remains unrecovered. The error occurred when the system incorrectly substituted "Bitcoin" for "Korean won," amplifying the reward amount by billions of times.
As South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange, Bithumb’s incident may lead to stricter industry-wide risk management and technical reliability standards.
华尔街日报Ayer 00:59
