An operational error made by South Korea-based cryptocurrency trading platform Bithumb during an event led to large amounts of Bitcoin being transferred to some user accounts. Bithumb had planned to distribute small amounts of Korean won to the winners in the “Random Box” reward event for its users. However, as a result of an incorrect transaction in the reward unit, some users received more Bitcoin than expected.
Incorrect Unit Entry Affects Prices
Normally, the prize amounts planned to be distributed to the winners were limited to 20,000 to 50,000 won. However, as a result of the error, the payment unit was entered as Bitcoin. For this reason, it was highlighted in screenshots in social media posts that at least 2,000 Bitcoins per account were transferred to some users. This amount corresponded to approximately 196 billion won per person, based on the Bitcoin price at that time.
Bithumb officials announced that an excessive amount of Bitcoin was sent to “some customers” by mistake. It is reported that some users who unexpectedly deposited Bitcoin into their accounts on the platform began to sell these cryptocurrencies rapidly. Following these sell-offs, the Bitcoin price on Bithumb fell more than 10 percent below its market value, causing a short-term price disruption.
In the statement made by Bithumb, it was stated that it sincerely apologized to customers for the confusion that occurred in event payments.
The company shared that they quickly detected unusual transaction activity with their in-house control systems and transaction restrictions were applied to the relevant accounts. No information was given about the total amount of Bitcoin distributed by mistake and how many accounts were affected. It was stated that more serious chain liquidations were prevented thanks to Bithumb’s “domino liquidations prevention system”.
The platform emphasized that the incident was not related to an external attack or security breach, and shared the information that it was understood that customer assets were not damaged.
According to reports, this development occurred during the serious sales wave that was already experienced in the Bitcoin market. On a global scale, Bitcoin fell below support levels, triggering forced selling. It was claimed that over 1.1 billion dollars were liquidated in leveraged positions.
Unusual price movements on Bithumb further accelerated the general downward trend, and prices dropped to $60,000 as of yesterday. This level was approximately 50 percent below the highest value seen in October 2025.
Currently, Bitcoin is trading above $69,000 again. However, this error experienced on the platform once again brought to the agenda the importance of the price mechanism and internal control processes in cryptocurrency markets.
