Bithumb's $40 Billion Bitcoin Mistake: The Impact and Implications

Sun Feb 08 2026 05:46:14 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed over $40 billion in Bitcoin to customers, raising questions about security, regulatory practices, and the implications for the crypto market.

Bithumb, a leading South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, mistakenly rewarded customers with over $40 billion worth of Bitcoin instead of a small cash payout. The company quickly identified the error, recovering nearly all the funds and restricting trading for affected users. Regulatory bodies are investigating the incident, which has sparked discussions about the need for tighter financial regulations in the cryptocurrency sector.

A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange accidentally gave away more than $40bn (£32bn) worth of bitcoin to customers, briefly making them multi-millionaires.

It had planned to give customers a small cash reward of 2,000 won - $1.37 - but instead gave them 2,000 bitcoins on Friday.

The platform, Bithumb, apologized for the error, adding that it quickly realized its mistake and recovered almost all the missing tokens.

It said it had restricted trading and withdrawals for the 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the glitch.

The company reported 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins mistakenly sent were recovered. We want to make it clear that this matter has nothing to do with external hacking or security breaches, and there is no problem with system security or customer asset management, Bithumb stated.

In an emergency meeting on Saturday, South Korea's financial regulator announced it would investigate the incident. Any sign of illegal activity would prompt formal investigations, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS).

Bithumb committed to cooperating with regulators. [We] will take this accident as a lesson and prioritize 'customer trust and peace of mind' rather than external growth, CEO Lee Jae-won said.

The company plans to compensate all customers who were using the platform at the time, providing 20,000 won ($13.66) and waiving trading fees, among other measures.

Bithumb is also set to improve verification systems and introduce AI to detect abnormal transactions. This incident is expected to lead to increased discussions regarding regulatory controls in the financial sector.

In April 2024, Citigroup mistakenly credited $81 trillion instead of $280 to a customer's account due to a similar error, which highlights the critical importance of accuracy in financial transactions.