South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb announced today it will fully compensate customers affected by an incident in which 620,000 Bitcoin worth over $40 billion was mistakenly distributed to 695 users during an event reward payment.
The error occurred on February 6 when an input mistake during the reward process led to the massive overpayment. Bithumb said it detected the issue within 20 minutes and blocked all transactions and withdrawals.
Bithumb recovered nearly all of the overpaid Bitcoin, amounting to 618,212 BTC or 99.7% of the total. In addition, 93% of the assets that recipients had already sold have been reclaimed, with no coins sent outside the platform.
“We sincerely apologize for the confusion and inconvenience caused to our customers due to the overpayment incident,” said Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won in a statement. “We feel a deep sense of responsibility for failing to uphold the top priorities of a virtual asset exchange: stability and integrity.”
Bithumb confirmed customer losses from panic selling during the incident totaled approximately 1 billion Korean won (over $680,000) as of February 7. The company will provide 110% compensation to customers who sold at unfavorable prices on Friday.
All customers who accessed the platform during the incident will receive 20,000 KRW ($15), and trading fees will be waived for seven days.
The exchange also announced a permanent Customer Protection Fund worth 100 billion Korean won ($68 million) to address future incidents.
The Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Services Commission are probing Bithumb following the mistake.
The company stated that it is working with regulators after reporting the matter to authorities and will implement system upgrades such as enhanced asset verification, multi-step payment approvals, and an AI-powered Safeguard for 24-hour abnormal transaction detection.
