South Korea-based cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb reportedly made an operational error during a promotional event and accidentally credited some user accounts with extremely large amounts of Bitcoin. What might have been a routine marketing campaign quickly turned into a major market incident, especially because it unfolded during a period of heavy volatility across the broader crypto market.
According to the report, Bithumb had planned to distribute small cash rewards through a “Random Box” event at around 6 p.m. local time. The intended payout for winners was only 20,000 to 50,000 Korean won, which would normally be considered a modest promotional reward rather than a meaningful trading event.
Instead, staff allegedly entered the payout unit as Bitcoin rather than won. That mistake dramatically changed the nature of the transfer. Rather than receiving a small amount of local currency, certain users were reportedly credited with huge quantities of BTC. Based on screenshots and user accounts circulated on social media, some recipients received at least 2,000 BTC each.
At the time, one Bitcoin was trading near 98 million won. On that basis, each mistakenly credited account may have received roughly 196 billion won in value. For any centralized exchange, an error of that scale is not just a clerical issue. It is large enough to disrupt platform liquidity, trigger internal alarms, and potentially affect market pricing if the assets become tradable before the mistake is reversed.
How the Bithumb payout error unfolded
Bithumb later said it had accidentally sent excess bitcoin to “some customers.” However, the exchange did not disclose the total amount of BTC distributed by mistake, nor did it reveal how many accounts were affected. The public explanation indicates that the problem came from the reward settlement process tied to the event, not from a blockchain malfunction or wallet infrastructure failure.
The original campaign itself was simple. It was meant to provide low-value promotional payouts to selected users. In normal circumstances, rewards of 20,000 to 50,000 won would have had no visible effect on the trading market. The critical error appears to have come from using the wrong unit during internal processing, turning a small fiat-denominated reward into a massive bitcoin-denominated credit.
Incidents like this are uncommon but highly dangerous in centralized exchange operations. Once users are credited with assets that appear available in their balances, they may sell, transfer, or attempt to withdraw them immediately. In a fast-moving market, even a short delay in detection can create substantial damage, especially if the exchange’s order books are not prepared for sudden one-sided flows.
Bithumb said it “immediately recognized the abnormal transaction through its internal control system and promptly restricted transactions for the relevant account.” In a statement posted Friday, the company also apologized for the confusion caused during the payment process for the event. That suggests the exchange relied on both automated controls and emergency operational intervention once the mistake was detected.
Why Bitcoin on Bithumb briefly traded far below the wider market
The most important market question was not the campaign itself, but what happened after the credits appeared in user accounts. Reports said that some recipients sold the mistakenly credited BTC. That selling pressure appears to have caused a temporary but sharp pricing dislocation on the Bithumb platform.
During the incident, Bitcoin on Bithumb reportedly traded more than 10% below broader market levels. On a major exchange, a discount of that size is significant. It usually indicates an abrupt imbalance between buyers and sellers, a sudden wave of forced or opportunistic selling, or a lack of sufficient liquidity at key levels in the order book.
The mechanics are straightforward. If users suddenly receive a large amount of BTC that they did not purchase with their own funds, they may be more likely to sell immediately. If enough such orders hit the market at once, local platform prices can fall sharply, especially when buying interest is thin or cautious. This can produce a short-lived “flash crash” even if the broader global market is trading higher.
Bithumb also said its “domino liquidation prevention system” stopped more severe chain liquidations tied to an “abnormal bitcoin price.” That wording matters because it suggests the exchange was concerned not only about spot market pricing, but also about knock-on effects on leveraged positions, collateral values, liquidation thresholds, and automated risk controls across the platform.
Bithumb says it was not a hack and customer assets were not lost
In crypto markets, any report involving abnormal transfers and sudden price distortions immediately raises concerns about hacking. Bithumb therefore emphasized that the incident was unrelated to any external hacking attempt or security breach. In other words, the exchange framed the event as an internal operational error rather than a compromise of private keys, wallet systems, or exchange security architecture.
The company also said the incident did not result in any loss or damage to customer assets, based on its current understanding. That statement appears intended to calm user fears. It separates the event from a theft scenario and implies that the exchange’s internal restrictions and control procedures were sufficient to contain the problem before it turned into a broader solvency or custody issue.
Still, several important details remain unknown. Bithumb did not disclose how much bitcoin was mistakenly distributed in total, how many accounts were involved, how much of the credited BTC was actually sold, or what settlement and recovery process would follow. Without those figures, the market cannot fully assess the operational and financial impact of the mistake.
The original article also noted that this was a developing story. That means the available facts may change as more account-level data, transaction records, or follow-up statements become public. For readers and users, the key distinction is clear: this was presented as an internal operational failure, not as evidence that the exchange had been externally breached.
The broader context: Bitcoin was already in the middle of a historic selloff
The Bithumb incident drew even more attention because it happened while Bitcoin itself was undergoing one of the sharpest selloffs in its history. According to the report, BTC sliced through major support levels on Thursday and triggered a wave of forced liquidations across the market.
Data from Bitcoin Magazine Pro showed that Bitcoin fell to $60,000 the previous day. The move was described as the largest raw dollar drawdown ever recorded. It also left BTC trading roughly 50% below its October 2025 all-time high above $126,000.
The decline now ranks among the most extreme corrections in Bitcoin’s history. The article says it even surpassed the intensity of selling seen around the FTX collapse, as broader risk markets weakened and sentiment deteriorated across asset classes.
Leverage played a major role in accelerating the drop. After support near $70,000 broke, more than $1.1 billion in derivatives positions were liquidated, which helped push the market into the $60,000 range. At the time of writing, Bitcoin had recovered to trade above $69,000, but volatility remained elevated.
This broader backdrop helps explain why the Bithumb pricing distortion became so visible. When the global market is already under heavy pressure, any exchange-specific imbalance can be amplified quickly. In that environment, an operational mistake is not just a back-office problem. It becomes a real-time test of exchange liquidity, surveillance systems, risk engines, trading controls, and liquidation safeguards.