South Korea's Bithumb Exchange Faces Catastrophic Consequences After Bitcoin Mistake
In a shocking turn of events, South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, has found itself in the midst of a financial crisis after mistakenly crediting customers with over $40 billion worth of bitcoin. The error occurred during a promotional event last week when an employee entered prize amounts in bitcoin instead of Korean won, resulting in 620,000 bitcoins being sent to 695 qualifying customers.
The incident was meant to send prizes valued at approximately $423 each, but the exchange's internal system misfired, leaving the recipients with a whopping 14 times more than what they were entitled to. The mistake has left many customers in a precarious position, as they sold or withdrew the funds before the error was detected.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) governor, Lee Chan-jin, described the incident as "catastrophic," particularly for those who sold the bitcoin they received, which could result in significant losses due to rising bitcoin prices. The FSS has launched a full investigation into the matter and is questioning both Bithumb and financial authorities.
The exchange has taken steps to recover the lost funds, reversing internal ledger entries and issuing an apology. However, some customers have already cashed out, using the bitcoins to buy other cryptocurrencies or withdraw them to personal bank accounts. Bithumb is now engaging in "one-on-one persuasion" talks with around 80 customers who cashed out, asking them to return the funds voluntarily.
The incident has raised questions about the exchange's internal systems and the regulatory framework governing cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea. The country's parliament has scheduled an emergency hearing for February 11 to question both Bithumb and financial authorities. Bithumb has denied any external hacking or security breach, stating that it is taking steps to prevent recurrence by redesigning its asset payment process and enhancing internal control systems.
As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how Bithumb will recover from this catastrophic mistake and what implications it will have for the cryptocurrency exchange industry in South Korea.
In a shocking turn of events, South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, Bithumb, has found itself in the midst of a financial crisis after mistakenly crediting customers with over $40 billion worth of bitcoin. The error occurred during a promotional event last week when an employee entered prize amounts in bitcoin instead of Korean won, resulting in 620,000 bitcoins being sent to 695 qualifying customers.
The incident was meant to send prizes valued at approximately $423 each, but the exchange's internal system misfired, leaving the recipients with a whopping 14 times more than what they were entitled to. The mistake has left many customers in a precarious position, as they sold or withdrew the funds before the error was detected.
The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) governor, Lee Chan-jin, described the incident as "catastrophic," particularly for those who sold the bitcoin they received, which could result in significant losses due to rising bitcoin prices. The FSS has launched a full investigation into the matter and is questioning both Bithumb and financial authorities.
The exchange has taken steps to recover the lost funds, reversing internal ledger entries and issuing an apology. However, some customers have already cashed out, using the bitcoins to buy other cryptocurrencies or withdraw them to personal bank accounts. Bithumb is now engaging in "one-on-one persuasion" talks with around 80 customers who cashed out, asking them to return the funds voluntarily.
The incident has raised questions about the exchange's internal systems and the regulatory framework governing cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea. The country's parliament has scheduled an emergency hearing for February 11 to question both Bithumb and financial authorities. Bithumb has denied any external hacking or security breach, stating that it is taking steps to prevent recurrence by redesigning its asset payment process and enhancing internal control systems.
As the situation continues to unfold, it remains to be seen how Bithumb will recover from this catastrophic mistake and what implications it will have for the cryptocurrency exchange industry in South Korea.
just wow, 40 billion USD is a lot of crypto 
... i'm thinking if anyone else made such a huge mistake on their investment portfolio, they'd be in major trouble 
but i guess in this case, it's the exchange's fault not the customers' 
the FSS governor saying it's catastrophic is a bit of an understatement imo 
anyway, 695 people got hit with way more bitcoin than they expected 
️
and this latest mistake is gonna add to that 
... like, who wouldn't want a 14x return on investment 
and Bithumb's trying to recover the funds 
and the fss is investigating like what were they thinking?? 
... hopefully it doesn't lead to more problems down the line... so much for south korea's rep as a hub for cryptocurrency exchanges 
$40 billion mistake 
but seriously, 620,000 bitcoins to 695 people is a lot of weight on their shoulders. Some of these customers must be thinking, "I'm good" and already cashed out. 
It's definitely going to make some waves in the crypto scene here in Korea 
. the regulators are on it too, which is good - hopefully they can get to the bottom of what went wrong.
. like, I'm not saying people who made this mistake aren't smart or capable, but... come on guys! 
we should be better than this by now 
. fingers crossed for those affected - hopefully they can recover from this debacle 
. It's gotta be super stressful trying to figure out what to do next 
. Regs need to be tightened up around cryptocurrency exchanges too 
. I guess we'll have to wait and see how it all plays out...
. I mean, how do these mistakes even happen in the first place?! It's just so frustrating for everyone involved 
.