Financial authorities said on Monday that a total of 86 customers had sold some or all of the bitcoins accidentally sent to them by Bithumb, a Korean cryptocurrency exchange, last week. On Friday, Bithumb mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion worth of bitcoins to customers as part of a promotional event, temporarily making them multi-millionaires. The exchange had planned to award small cash prizes totaling 620,000 won to 249 customers, but instead sent 620,000 bitcoins, triggering a sell-off at the platform. The company halted the transactions and began reclaiming the incorrectly sent bitcoins around 7:40 p.m. Friday.
Bithumb said it has recouped most of the bitcoins sold by users but has yet to recover 125 bitcoins, worth about 13 billion won. Of these, around 3 billion won has already been withdrawn and transferred to customers’ bank accounts. The remaining 10 billion won has been used to purchase other virtual assets, according to officials. “We are individually contacting customers who have already sold off the wrongly sent bitcoins and persuading them to return the money, while also coordinating methods to recoup them,” an official from the exchange said.
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