Korean exchange Bithumb has cleared the air of an internal error that left some users’ wallets with a “relatively high” amount of BTC. Notably, this anomaly has caused significant price volatility in the exchange, drawing the attention of crypto enthusiasts.
Bithumb Moves to Wrap Up Acquisition After Overpayment Error
On February 6, Lookonchain, among many crypto commentary accounts, shared that Bithumb mistakenly transferred 2,000 BTC ($134 million) each to users, instead of 2000 KRW ($1.34) in reward payment. Some receivers sold quickly, causing a 10% flash crash in Korean trading, pushing prices briefly to around $55,000.
In a blog post, Bithumb described the incident as an additional payment that occurred during the process of a promotional event involving 695 recipients. The exchange mistakenly transferred 620,000 BTC to these wallets, an error that was quickly noticed, leading to the immediate blocking of the withdrawal of all affected wallets within 35 minutes of the transaction.
Notably, Bithumb recovered 618,212 BTC, which represents 99.7% of the total amount of overpayments. Meanwhile, 93% of the 1788 BTC already sold was also received in KRW and other digital assets. According to the exchange, the remaining unreimbursed sales amount will be covered using the company’s assets. Meanwhile, efforts are underway to ensure that such operational errors are not repeated.
The department’s statement said:
Bithumb takes this incident seriously and will do everything in its power to prevent a recurrence by restructuring the entire payment process and improving the internal control system.
Bithumb also dismissed allegations of external or malicious interference, assuring users that their system remains secure:
They say:
We want to clarify that this incident is not related to any external hacking or security breach, and does not cause problems with system security or customer asset management. Customer assets are handled as securely as ever, and transactions and deposits/withdrawals are now working as normal.
Crypto Market Overview
In other news, the total value of the crypto market has now risen to $2.34 trillion after a gain of 5.68% the previous day. This follows the previous bloodbath in the week, when the market fell to around $2.19 trillion.
Despite the recent recovery, data from CoinMarketCap shows that the digital asset market remains about 45% away from its current peak of $4.28 trillion. Market sentiment also continues to show caution, with the Crypto Fear and Greed Index currently reading 8, indicating greater fear among investors.
Featured image from Blocktempo, chart from Tradingview
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