South Korean Lawmakers Slam Regulators Over Bithumb's $43 Billion Bitcoin Blunder
South Korean regulators failed to detect a major internal systems flaw in crypto exchange Bithumb, which resulted in around $43 billion worth of Bitcoin being mistakenly credited to users as part of a promotion. Despite three prior regulatory reviews since 2022, the issue went unnoticed, exposing gaps in oversight and regulation. The incident affected 695 individuals, each receiving over 2,000 Bitcoins instead of 2,000 Korean won ($1.38). The error was fixed within five minutes, but some users quickly sold the mistaken Bitcoin, spiking the price on Bithumb’s platform. Bithumb was able to recover about 99.7% of the Bitcoin, but approximately $123 million remained unrecovered and was repaid with company funds. Korean regulators launched a formal investigation into the incident, criticizing the weaknesses it revealed in supervisory systems. Bithumb compensated users affected by the error with cash and additional payments if they sold BTC at deflated prices. The exchange's CEO acknowledged previous minor distribution errors and pledged to prioritize customers’ trust and asset safety.
