South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb says it has successfully recovered almost all of the Bitcoin mistakenly distributed during a promotional mishap earlier this month, an incident that briefly disrupted prices on its platform.
I am the Chief Operations Officer at Bithumb.
South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange.
On Thursday, we ran a promotional event.
A “lucky box” campaign.
Very popular in Korea.
Users complete tasks.
Users receive rewards.
Small rewards.
2,000 Korean Won.… pic.twitter.com/qLCS3yYRpQ
— Peter Girnus 🦅 (@gothburz) February 8, 2026
In a notice published on its website, Bithumb explained that the error occurred on February 6 during a reward campaign. Users were supposed to receive small incentives paid in Korean won, but a system configuration issue led to Bitcoin being credited instead. Some recipients quickly sold the unexpected BTC before the mistake was detected.
Rapid response limits losses
According to the exchange, approximately 99.7% of the mistakenly credited Bitcoin has been recovered. The remaining portion, which could not be reclaimed because some users had already sold the assets, was covered using Bithumb’s own funds.
Bithumb said all affected account balances were fully restored by late February 7 and confirmed that customer assets remain secure. The company also emphasized that the incident was caused by an internal operational failure, not a cyberattack or security breach.
Once the issue was identified, Bithumb temporarily restricted affected accounts and launched recovery procedures to limit further impact.
Price disruption and compensation plans
The mistaken distribution triggered a sharp but brief drop in Bitcoin prices on Bithumb’s BTC/KRW market, creating a noticeable gap between its prices and those on other global exchanges. In January, Bithumb identified more than $200 million in dormant customer assets spread across approximately 2.6 million inactive accounts, highlighting how much retail crypto capital remains untouched on centralized platforms.
To address the fallout, Bithumb said it will compensate traders who sold Bitcoin at abnormally low prices during the incident and offer additional relief measures, including trading fee reductions.
The exchange has also set up a dedicated internal task force to tighten operational controls and prevent similar errors in the future, reiterating its commitment to protecting customer funds and maintaining platform integrity.
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