An unprecedented incident at the Korean exchange Bithumb involved the incorrect payout of 620,000 BTC during a randomized rewards event. At the time, the value equated to roughly 60 trillion won. The event affected 695 participants, with 249 winners receiving an average of 2,490 BTC each and totaling about 2.4 trillion won.
Following the payout, some users sold their BTC immediately, causing BTC prices on the KRW market to slump by more than 15%, briefly dropping to around 81 million won. Bithumb blocked trading and withdrawals within about 20 minutes of the incident; by the morning of the 7th, the company reported recovering 99.7% of the mispaid BTC. The misallocation highlighted gaps between Bithumb’s direct reserves (175 BTC) and customer-held reserves (over 42,619 BTC), with a total exposure approaching 7 trillion won, far exceeding the company’s actual holdings.
Experts highlighted that the incident underscores not only technical laxity but regulatory and industry structural issues, including the absence of automated safety triggers and insufficient asset custody controls. Park Jaehyun of Noone21 criticized the domestic exchange model for prioritizing regulatory access and fee revenue over innovation, contrasting with global platforms building on-chain ecosystems. Bithumb announced measures including a 100 billion won customer protection fund, system upgrades, full repayment of the mispaid amount with an additional 10% compensation, 20,000 won to all users who accessed during the incident, and 0% trading fees for seven days.
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