South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed over $40 bn in bitcoin to customers as part of a promotional event, sparking a sharp selloff on the platform.
The error occurred when the exchange intended to send small cash rewards of 2,000 Korean won ($1.37) or more. Instead, each winner received at least 2,000 bitcoins, media reports said. Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals for the 695 affected accounts within 35 minutes and has recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins, worth roughly $44 bn.
The company stressed that the incident was not caused by hacking or security failures and that customer assets remain safe. Bitcoin prices briefly fell 17% to 81.1 mln won on the exchange before recovering to 104.5 mln won. Bithumb is the second-largest crypto exchange in South Korea, behind Upbit.
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