The Korean exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed 2,000 bitcoins to each user instead of 2,000 won.

The South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed Bitcoin instead of won

*The issue arose during the “Random Box” promotion when an employee mistakenly entered the currency as BTC rather than KRW.*

What happened
- Date: February 6
- Event: Bithumb promised to give participants between 20,000 and 50,000 KRW (≈ $13.7–$34) as part of the “Random Box” promotion. The odds were 1 %, 3 % and 96 % respectively.
- Error: When crediting winners, BTC was entered instead of KRW, so each winner received at least 2,000 Bitcoin.

Impact on the market
- On the day of the transaction, one BTC was worth about 98 million KRW (≈ $67,000).
- Each participant received assets worth ≈ 196 million KRW (≈ $134,000).
- Roughly 700 people bought a “Random Box,” and about 240 opened it. Most received 2,000 BTC each.
- Many sold the cryptocurrency immediately, causing the local market price to drop by roughly 10 %.

Financial consequences
Metric | Value
---|---
Total Bitcoin sold | ≈ 3 million KRW (≈ $2.1 million)
Users who returned BTC | ~160 people
Return of received funds | ≈ 400,000 BTC

After discovering the mistake, Bithumb blocked all accounts with erroneous deposits and displayed a message: “This account is locked by the service.”

Exchange reaction
- Apology: The exchange publicly apologized for the payment confusion.
- Security: Bithumb stated that the incident was not related to hacking or security breaches and confirmed no issues with client asset management.
- Current status: The company continues to gather data on the extent of the damage and has not disclosed exact figures.

In short: A currency entry error caused Bithumb to accidentally distribute 2,000 BTC instead of won, leading to a local market price drop and requiring users to return some funds. The exchange emphasizes that there were no security problems.