Bithumb moves to freeze remaining BTC after $8M payout blunder
South Korean exchange Bithumb has asked a local court to provisionally seize seven bitcoin that remain unreturned following a February payout error, the company said — a pre‑lawsuit step that prevents the assets from being moved. A civil suit is expected to follow if the outstanding coins are not returned.
How it happened
On Feb. 6 Bithumb ran a promotion meant to credit 249 winners with 620,000 won each (about $460). Staff mistakenly entered “BTC” instead of “KRW,” causing the exchange’s internal ledgers to show each winner had received 620,000 bitcoin. For a few frantic minutes the glitch made it appear Bithumb had created more than $40 billion worth of BTC on its books.
What users did and the fallout
Within minutes some users sold roughly 1,788 BTC before Bithumb froze the affected accounts. The selling pressure pushed Bithumb’s BTC/KRW pair down into the low 80 million won (about $54,000) range. Bithumb reversed most of the incorrect ledger entries and managed to recover the bulk of coins that were sold — but not all. Initially about 12.3 billion won (roughly $8.3 million) remained outstanding; after months of outreach that amount has been reduced to about seven bitcoin (roughly $380,000 at the price levels reported).
Legal angle and implications
Local legal experts say recipients are likely on weak ground: the case falls under unjust enrichment, meaning those who benefited from the mistake are obliged to return the assets. If recipients already sold the coins, courts may require them to repurchase bitcoin at current market prices to make the exchange whole.
Why it matters
The episode underscores how human error plus the speed and relative irreversibility of crypto trading can turn a routine promotion into a multi‑million‑dollar crisis in minutes. Bithumb — South Korea’s second‑largest exchange by volume, according to CoinGecko — recorded a 24‑hour trading volume of roughly $388 million at the time, behind Upbit’s $788 million.
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