Bithumb is racing to recover the mispaid Bitcoins after the incident caused by an input error, with the exchange reportedly preparing potential legal actions if some recipients refuse to return the assets. In the wake of the mishap, the company has blocked mispayment-related account activity and withdrawals, and some recipients had already disposed of sizeable amounts of Bitcoin. As authorities count the number of affected users, roughly 125 Bitcoins remained unrecovered as of early morning on the 7th, while tens of billions of won were withdrawn to customers’ bank accounts. The remaining funds, estimated at about 100 billion won, were reportedly used to repurchase other coins, including altcoins.
Industry insiders say that meaningful recoveries could come if formal legal actions proceed, framing the mispayment as akin to an erroneous remittance. The event’s prize framework reportedly stated per-person rewards of 2,000 won to 50,000 won, suggesting that recipients of large Bitcoin amounts could be deemed to have gained unduly. There is ongoing debate about whether mispaid Bitcoin could be subject to criminal penalties, reflecting evolving interpretations of virtual assets under criminal law.
A 2021 Supreme Court ruling acquitted a man who transferred mispaid Bitcoin to another account, underscoring that virtual assets are not treated as legal tender in the same way as cash. Regulators have indicated that mispaid Bitcoins are subject to restitution and should, in principle, be returned in kind. Officials note that those who sold the mispaid coins faced a “disastrous” situation, and that returning the original asset could incur significant costs given Bitcoin’s price movements. Some individuals may not be required to return the asset in certain scenarios, according to officials corroborating checks on whether the mispaid assets were sent by the exchange.
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