Ошибка выплаты Bithumb вызвала резкое падение биткоина на платформе Translation: Bithumb Payment Error Triggers Sharp Bitcoin Drop on Platform

The team at the South Korean exchange Bithumb has acknowledged that it mistakenly disbursed «anomalously large amounts» of Bitcoin to some users. A number of accounts quickly sold off their assets, leading to a price drop.

In a statement, Bithumb’s monitoring system swiftly identified unusual transactions and froze the account from which they originated. The cryptocurrency’s value stabilized within five minutes, and a mechanism designed to prevent cascading liquidations averted a mass closure of positions.

«We wish to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to any external hacking attacks or security breaches and poses no threat to the systems or the management of user assets,» the platform stated.

Bithumb assured that customers did not incur any losses as a result of the platform’s staff errors. Asset withdrawal and deposit operations continued as usual.

The exchange did not disclose specific details, citing an ongoing data collection process and an active investigation.

According to independent researcher AB Kuai.Dong, the platform mistakenly distributed 2000 BTC (approximately $141.6 million) as rewards to «hundreds of users,» instead of the intended 2000 won (around $1.4).

Some recipients managed to sell their Bitcoin and cash out, resulting in a brief 22% drop in the coin’s price on Bithumb, noted the expert.

Local media reports link the incident to a promotional event called «Random Box.» Approximately 700 users participated in the transactions, and about 240 accounts were able to capitalize on them. The total amount withdrawn after selling the leading cryptocurrency was around 3 billion won (approximately $2.1 million). The platform managed to reclaim up to 400,000 BTC.

It’s worth noting that in 2024, the former CEO of Bithumb’s parent company, Bithumb Holdings, Ahn Song-hyun, was found guilty of fraud. Last year, law enforcement continued the investigation concerning former platform director Kim Dae-sik.