The distribution of complimentary bitcoins to clients of the cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has prompted an investigation., 2026/02/10 16:05:39

The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) of South Korea has initiated an investigation into the operations of the Bithumb cryptocurrency exchange due to an operational error that resulted in the distribution of bitcoins valued at $43 billion to clients.

The financial regulator aims to determine whether the transactions conducted by the exchange correspond to the actual availability of assets. An unnamed representative of the agency assured the Yonhap news agency that the matter is being approached “with utmost seriousness,” and the findings of the investigation could lead to stricter regulations for all cryptocurrency exchanges.  

The actual reserves of the exchange at the time of the incident were approximately 46,000 BTC, which is significantly less than the 620,000 coins that were mistakenly credited to clients, according to the FSS. Meanwhile, Bithumb stated that it managed to retract 99.7% of the distributed bitcoins and recover 93% of the 1,788 BTC that users had sold. About 125 BTC remain inaccessible to the exchange. To mitigate the negative repercussions of the incident, Bithumb has promised to compensate clients for 110% of their potential losses. The regulator suggested that the exchange may not have sufficient funds.  

Representatives of the opposition South Korean party “People Power” claimed that the incident at Bithumb is not merely an unfortunate mistake. If the exchange operates solely with figures in its internal ledger without actual blockchain transactions, it implies that the platform can sell bitcoins that it does not possess. This could create conditions for panic and a market crash, the lawmakers believe. 

Members of the ruling Democratic Party pointed out “critical gaps” in the internal control and record-keeping systems of cryptocurrency exchanges. In response, the party announced plans to limit the share of minor shareholders in cryptocurrency exchange companies to 15-20%. Previously, market participants had actively opposed this initiative, arguing that such restrictions could hinder the industry’s development. 

FSS head Lee Chan-Jin stated that the agency plans to monitor the activities of large cryptocurrency holders as well as significant user transactions. The FSS intends to implement automated systems for detecting suspicious trading, analyzing data on a second-by-second and minute-by-minute basis. Officials promise to incorporate artificial intelligence to identify potential market violations. If the monitoring reveals confirmed violations, the regulator is prepared to initiate inspections of cryptocurrency exchanges, announced Lee Chan-Jin.  

Bithumb is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea by asset volume. Last week, instead of small promotional bonuses to certain clients, the platform mistakenly credited them with 2,000 BTC each. Following this, the price of bitcoin on the exchange dropped by 30% compared to the global average, as some recipients immediately attempted to sell the coins. The exchange later reported that the issue was due to an employee’s mistake: instead of South Korean won (KRW), bitcoins (BTC) were indicated as the unit of reward.