An operational error at Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency trading platform, led to the unintended transfer of large amounts of Bitcoin to some user accounts during an event. Bithumb had planned to distribute small amounts of Korean won to winners in a “Random Box” reward event. However, due to an error in the unit of the prize, some users received more Bitcoin than expected.
Miscalculation in Unit Affects Prices
Originally, the award amounts were limited to between 20,000 and 50,000 won. Due to a mistake, the payment unit was entered as Bitcoin instead. As highlighted in screenshots shared on social media, at least 2,000 Bitcoins were transferred per account, equivalent to approximately 196 billion won per person, based on the Bitcoin price at the time.
Bithumb representatives disclosed that excessive Bitcoin amounts were mistakenly sent to “some customers.” It was reported that some users who received unexpected Bitcoin in their accounts quickly began selling them. Following these sales, the Bitcoin price on Bithumb fell more than 10% below market value, leading to a brief price anomaly.
Bithumb issued an apology to customers for the confusion arising from the event’s payouts.
The company shared that they promptly detected the unusual transaction activity through internal control systems, and imposed transaction restrictions on related accounts. No information was provided about the total amount of Bitcoin mistakenly distributed or how many accounts were affected. Bithumb stated that their “domino liquidations prevention system” helped avert more severe cascading liquidations.
The platform emphasized that the incident was unrelated to any external attack or security breach, and that customer assets were not harmed.
According to reports, this event occurred amid an existing serious selling wave in the Bitcoin market. Globally, Bitcoin had fallen below support levels, triggering mandatory sales. It was claimed that leveraged positions witnessed liquidations exceeding 1.1 billion dollars.
The anomalous price movements on Bithumb accelerated the overall downward trend, with prices dropping to $60,000 yesterday. This level is approximately 50% below the highest value seen in October 2025.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading above $69,000 again. However, this platform error has once again highlighted the importance of the price mechanism and internal control processes in cryptocurrency markets.
