On 6 February, a mistake unfolded amid a promotion meant to give rewards to 695 qualifying users - totaling 620,000 Korean won, about $423. Instead of using local currency, one employee typed in bitcoin by accident; this shifted the reward value dramatically. What should have been small bonuses became 620,000 bitcoins, valued around $42 billion then. Among those who qualified, nearly half accessed their digital boxes before anyone noticed. These 249 people ended up with massive deposits, exceeding the entire crypto balance held by the platform.
Bithumb said it fixed many incorrect deposits through adjustments in its internal records. Still, regulators noted approximately 13 billion won - about $9 million - was unaccounted for, lost when certain users moved or cashed out funds prior to detection. During the half-hour span before freezing actions began, 86 individuals allegedly offloaded close to 1,788 bitcoins, sparking temporary shifts in pricing across the site's trading system.
Criticism came fast once news broke. "Catastrophic" was the word used by Lee Chan-jin - head of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service - to describe what happened to those who offloaded their bitcoin. With prices climbing afterward, people forced to give back holdings might now owe money instead. Not just a one-off error, according to Lee; it revealed deeper flaws in how crypto platforms handle internal ledgers and transaction safeguards.
Disagreement persists among legal professionals regarding possible criminal consequences for users who withdrew accidentally deposited bitcoin. Though crypto assets were central to a 2021 South Korean high court decision, their exclusion from the definition of "property" in penal statutes muddies enforcement paths. Instead of pursuing drawn-out lawsuits, Bithumb initiated private talks with around eighty individuals who converted the digital value into local currency, asking repayment in won amounts.
Now probing deeper, the Financial Supervisory Service has opened a comprehensive review; meanwhile, lawmakers in Seoul will hold an urgent session on 11 February to press officials and platform leaders for answers. Speaking publicly, Bithumb admitted changes are underway - its payout systems being rebuilt, oversight tightened - even though they insist no cyberattack occurred nor did outside actors gain access.
