On 6 February 2026, a routine promotional payout went wrong at South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb, when a system configuration error credited users with large Bitcoin balances instead of the small rewards that had been intended.
The glitch occurred during a promotional event where winners were supposed to receive a small reward worth about 2,000 South Korean won, roughly $1.40. Instead, some accounts were credited with at least 2,000 bitcoins each, resulting in about 620,000 BTC incorrectly assigned across 695 customer accounts, with a total value in the tens of billions of dollars before most of it was recovered.
Once the mistake began affecting the exchange’s order books, some recipients sold their unexpected Bitcoin holdings. That sudden increase in available supply pushed the price of BTC on Bithumb sharply lower relative to other markets, with internal price charts showing a brief drop of around 17 percent before stabilising. Officials at the exchange used internal controls to restrict trading and withdrawals on the affected accounts within about 35 minutes of identifying the error, and have since recovered nearly all (99.7%) of the 620,000 misplaced Bitcoin.
BIG: 🚨 BITHUMB ACCIDENTALLY DISTRIBUTES ~2,000 $BTC INSTEAD OF $1.50 REWARDS, TRIGGERING IMMEDIATE DUMPS AND FLASH CRASH TO ~$55K ON THE EXCHANGE
— The Wolf Of All Streets (@scottmelker) February 6, 2026
Bithumb has said the incident was the result of an internal operational mistake, not a hacking attempt or external breach, and stated that customer assets remain secure. The company’s statement emphasised ongoing normal operations and pledged transparent follow-up measures to prevent similar errors, including improvements in verification and monitoring systems.
“We want to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to any external hacking or security breach, and does not pose any issues with system security or customer asset management. Customer assets are being safely managed as before, and transactions and deposits/withdrawals are currently operating normally,” the company said in its announcement earlier today.
Regulators in South Korea have also responded promptly, holding emergency talks after the incident. Officials from the country’s financial oversight bodies have raised concerns about vulnerabilities in crypto trading systems and signalled they may conduct on-site inspections of Bithumb’s controls and operations if further irregularities are detected.
Bithumb and Its Record of Breaches, Insider Claims, and Costly Errors
This is not the first time Bithumb has drawn attention for security failures and internal lapses. Long before the latest payment error, the exchange had already built a reputation for incidents that raised hard questions about how it protects user funds and data.
Back in June 2018, when Bithumb ranked among the world’s largest Bitcoin and Ether exchanges, hackers broke into its systems and walked away with $31 million worth of cryptocurrency. The breach shook confidence in South Korea’s crypto sector and placed Bithumb under intense public and regulatory scrutiny.
Years later, history appeared to repeat itself. In April 2024, the exchange confirmed another breach that resulted in losses of roughly $20 million. What made this case more serious was the claim that the theft involved an insider rather than an external attacker, pointing to deeper weaknesses in internal controls.
With repeated incidents going from hacks to internal failures and operational errors, pressure has been building on regulators to take a closer look. Each episode adds to the view that Bithumb’s problems are not isolated events but part of a pattern that calls for tougher oversight and clearer accountability.
Waqas
