A major glitch at South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb briefly made hundreds of customers appear to be multi‑millionaires after the platform accidentally paid out more than $40bn in bitcoin. The firm had intended to issue a modest promotional reward of 2,000 won (about $1.37) to users, but instead credited 2,000 bitcoins to each eligible account on Friday.
Bithumb said the error affected 695 customers and was detected and contained within 35 minutes, during which time trading and withdrawals for those accounts were restricted. According to the company, 99.7% of the approximately 620,000 bitcoins mistakenly distributed were recovered, and it stressed there had been no hacking attempt or external security breach.
In a statement, Bithumb emphasised that its overall systems and customer asset management remained secure and that the incident stemmed from an internal mistake rather than cybercrime. Chief executive Lee Jae‑won said the exchange would treat the episode as a lesson and focus on strengthening customer trust over rapid expansion, pledging closer cooperation with authorities.
South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) convened an emergency meeting on Saturday to review the situation and said any evidence of illegal activity would lead to a formal investigation. The regulator’s response is expected to fuel debate about tighter oversight of cryptocurrency platforms and automated financial systems in one of the world’s most active digital‑asset markets.
Bithumb plans to compensate users who were on the platform at the time with 20,000 won (around $13.66) and to temporarily waive trading fees as part of its remediation measures. The exchange also announced upgrades to its verification procedures, including the introduction of artificial intelligence tools designed to flag and block abnormal transactions more quickly.
The bitcoin payout error echoes previous high‑profile incidents in traditional finance, such as an April 2024 case where US bank Citigroup mistakenly credited a client with $81 trillion instead of $280 before reversing the transaction within hours. Together, these episodes highlight how a single technical or human error can briefly unleash enormous sums across modern financial infrastructure, reinforcing calls for stronger controls in both banking and crypto.
