In early February 2026, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb made a massive “fat-finger” error that resulted in the accidental distribution of approximately $40 billion to $44 billion worth of Bitcoin.
The Core Mistake
- The Intent: Bithumb planned to run a small promotional event rewarding 249 winners with 2,000 South Korean won (approx. $1.37) each.
- The Error: An internal processing error occurred where the reward unit was set to Bitcoin (BTC) instead of Won.
- The Result: Each winner received 2,000 Bitcoins (worth roughly $140–$160 million per person at the time) instead of the intended $1.37. In total, 620,000 BTC were distributed.
Immediate Market Impact
- Flash Crash: As some users realized the mistake and immediately began selling their windfall, the price of Bitcoin on Bithumb plummeted by roughly 17%, dropping to about 81.1 million won (approx. $55,000), while global prices remained much higher.
- Trading Freeze: Bithumb identified the error within 35 minutes and immediately restricted trading and withdrawals for the 695 affected accounts to prevent further flight of capital.
Recovery and Financial Loss
- Recovery Rate: The exchange successfully recovered 99.7% of the distributed funds by freezing accounts and requesting returns.
- Unrecovered Funds: About 125 BTC (worth approximately $9 million) remained unrecovered, as some users had already moved the funds off the platform or swapped them for other assets like Ethereum.
- Corporate Cover: Bithumb announced it would use its own corporate reserves to cover the $9 million shortfall to ensure 100% consistency for customer assets.
Compensation for Users
To restore trust and account for the “panic selling” caused by the price volatility, Bithumb offered:
- Trade Compensation: Users who sold Bitcoin at “abnormally low prices” during the crash will receive the full sale amount plus a 10% bonus.
- Active User Bonus: All customers active during the incident received a small credit of 20,000 won (approx. $13.66).
- Fee Waiver: Trading fees were waived for all users for seven days starting February 9, 2026.
Regulatory Fallout
- Official Investigation: South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) launched an emergency on-site inspection.
- Systemic Failure: Regulators noted that Bithumb’s internal systems allowed employees to issue rewards (points, cash, or crypto) without a rigorous “double-check” or formal settlement process.
- Timing: The accident occurred at a critical time for Bithumb, which has been seeking to go public (IPO) in the United States.
Final Thoughts
The Bithumb incident of 2026 stands as one of the most surreal “glitches” in financial history—a ₩2,000 (approx. $1.40) cup-of-coffee reward that accidentally turned into a $40+ billion fortune for nearly 700 people—remembered as “The World’s Most Expensive Typo.” The Human Element is the “Single Point of Failure”—a simple dropdown menu or unit selection error (choosing BTC instead of KRW) bridged the gap between a minor marketing expense and a potential bankruptcy-level catastrophe.
A “Reverse Kimchi Premium”—a localized flash crash where Bitcoin was 17% cheaper on Bithumb than anywhere else in the world, simply because users were dumping “free” coins as fast as possible. Regulatory “Wake-Up Call”—The South Korean Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) is using this as ammunition to push for stricter real-time auditing. They think if an exchange can “create” $44 billion in Bitcoin on its ledger with a typo, the gap between an exchange’s reported holdings and its actual reserves is a major systemic risk. The $9 Million “Finder’s Fee”—
Disclaimer: Crypto products & NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.