Bithumb mistakenly sends bitcoin to users, causing 'temporarily fluctuation' in BTC price on exchange

South Korea-based crypto exchange Bithumb said it accidentally sent an excess of bitcoin to “some customers,” who reportedly sold it, causing price disruptions on the platform, according to a blog post on Friday.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused to our customers due to the confusion that arose during the payment process for this event,” the exchange said (translated by Google). “Bithumb immediately recognized the abnormal transaction through its internal control system and promptly restricted transactions for the relevant account.”

Bithumb did not disclose how much bitcoin was mistakenly sent or the number of accounts affected. The exchange says its “domino liquidation prevention system” prevented more severe chain liquidations caused by an “abnormal bitcoin price.” It also noted the transactions were unrelated to "external hacking or security breach."

According to local reports, the incident was related to a "Random Box" giveaway event, where the exchange planned to distribute up to 50,000 Korean won to winners. However, something allegedly went wrong during the distribution process, and some recipients who were supposed to receive 2,000 Korean won (~$1.36) received 2,000 BTC ($139.4 million) instead. The Block has reached out to Bithumb for clarification.

The bitcoin/Korean won trading pair appears to have crashed by about 15% on Bithumb. Financial authorities reportedly said approximately 3 billion won had been withdrawn after selling the mistakenly deposited Bitcoin, Chosun Daily reported.

“Given the massive scale of damage, we are treating this incident seriously and will thoroughly investigate the cause," the Financial Services Commission and Financial Supervisory Service reportedly said.

Some affected users posted on social media to say their accounts were frozen.

“It is understood that this incident did not result in any loss or damage to customer assets,” the exchange said. 

Founded in 2014, Bithumb is one of the largest crypto exchanges in South Korea.

This story may be updated as The Block learns more.