South Korean cryptocurrency exchange company Bithumb mistakenly distributed 620,000 Bitcoin (~$42 billion USD) to hundreds of customers after a rewards promotion malfunctioned, with the firm later recovering nearly all of the funds.
The incident occurred when Bithumb intended to issue cash rewards of 2,000 Korean Won ($1.40) to customers, but instead transferred 2,000 Bitcoin per eligible account. In total, 620,000 Bitcoin were distributed to 695 customers before the error was identified.
At current market prices, that amount of Bitcoin would be worth more than $40 billion. As of writing, one Bitcoin trades for just under $70k. While it’s not clear if every affected customer received exactly 2,000 Bitcoin, that amount would be worth around $138 million.
How the mistake happened
According to the company, the mistake stemmed from a system error during the reward payout process. Instead of sending the intended small cash incentive, the platform credited customers with thousands of Bitcoin each.
Bithumb later recovered 99.7% of 620,000 Bitcoins, worth more than $40 billion.
Bithumb said it acted quickly to freeze withdrawals less than an hour after its discovery and began recovery procedures. The firm later confirmed that it had successfully retrieved 99.7% of the mistakenly distributed cryptocurrency, leaving only a small fraction unaccounted for.
In a statement to the BBC, the company said, “We want to make it clear that this matter has nothing to do with external hacking or security breaches, and there is no problem with system security or customer asset management.”
As compensation, Bithumb said that any customers who were using the platform during the incident would receive 20,000 won ($13.66) and have trading fees waived.
