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This crypto exchange accidentally gave away Bitcoin worth $40B
07 Feb 2026

In a major blunder, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed over $40 billion worth of Bitcoin to its customers.

The error was made during a promotional event yesterday, where instead of small cash rewards, winners received at least 2,000 Bitcoins each.

The company has since apologized for the mistake and managed to recover 99.7% of the distributed Bitcoins.

Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals
Damage control

Upon realizing the mistake, Bithumb acted quickly to limit the damage. The firm restricted trading as well as withdrawals for 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the erroneous distribution.

Incident not related to external hacking or security breaches
Security assurance

Bithumb has clarified that this incident is not related to any external hacking or security breaches.

The company assured its customers that there are no issues with system security or customer asset management.

This statement was part of their effort to reassure customers amid the fallout from this massive Bitcoin giveaway blunder during a promotional event gone wrong.

Bitcoin prices on Bithumb plummeted by 17%
Market impact

The unintended distribution of Bitcoin by Bithumb caused a temporary crash in the cryptocurrency's price.

On Friday evening, Bitcoin prices on Bithumb plummeted by 17% to 81.1 million won.

However, the cryptocurrency later recovered and was last seen trading at 104.5 million won, showing signs of stability after the incident.