South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb said it found and corrected an internal payout error after an “abnormal amount” of Bitcoin was mistakenly credited to some user accounts during a promotional event, briefly triggering sharp price swings on the platform.
In a Friday announcement, Bithumb said the price dislocation followed sales by some recipients of the erroneously credited BTC. The exchange said it quickly restricted the affected accounts using internal controls, stabilizing market prices within minutes and preventing cascading liquidations. Bithumb added the incident was not the result of a hack or security breach, caused no loss of customer assets, and trading, deposits and withdrawals are operating normally. The company said customer funds remain safely managed and that it will transparently disclose follow-up measures to prevent similar errors.
Bithumb did not disclose the exact amount involved. Several users on X claimed some accounts were mistakenly credited with roughly 2,000 BTC, a figure that has not been independently verified.
The event follows Bithumb’s January disclosure that it had identified about $200 million in dormant customer assets across roughly 2.6 million accounts as part of a recovery campaign. According to CoinGecko, Bithumb carries a trust score of 7 out of 10 and reported roughly $2.2 billion in 24-hour trading volume at the time of reporting.
Operational issues at centralized exchanges
The incident highlights broader operational challenges at centralized cryptocurrency exchanges that have impacted users during routine activity and market stress. In June, Coinbase said it had reduced unnecessary account freezes by 82% after upgrading machine-learning models and internal infrastructure, addressing years of user complaints about being locked out during periods of volatility even when no breach had occurred.
During a major Oct. 10 market sell-off that triggered billions in liquidations, Binance faced user complaints that technical problems prevented some traders from exiting positions at peak volatility. Binance said its core trading systems remained operational and attributed many liquidations to market conditions, but later distributed about $728 million in compensation to affected users.
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