The Korean crypto exchange intended to send 2,000 WON to some users but accidentally sent 2,000 BTC instead.
Bithumb, one of Korea’s leading centralized exchanges (CEX), made a multi-billion dollar mistake overnight when management accidentally sent 2,000 BTC, worth almost $140 million, to more than 200 users instead of 2,000 WON, which is worth less than $1.5.
As users received the BTC, they immediately attempted to sell and offramp funds, briefly sending BTC on Bithumb almost 18% below the market price according to LookOnchain.
The exchange addressed the situation in a notice that read, “During today’s event payment process, an abnormal amount of Bitcoin was paid to some customers. As sales were made on some accounts that received the Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price temporarily fluctuated rapidly. Bithumb immediately recognized abnormal transactions through its internal control system and quickly restricted transactions to related accounts.”
Korean outlet The Chosun Daily broke the news and said that “most” of the 240 users who partook in Bithumb’s Random Box promo event received 2,000 BTC in each of their wallets, and roughly $3 billion was withdrawn from the exchange.
According to the local news outlet, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) in Korea are actively investigating the incident due to its magnitude.
The exact number of BTC distributed has not been disclosed, but based on information provided by Chosun, the airdrop could have been worth up to $30 billion.