Bithumb announces compensation after erroneous 620,000 BTC payout

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Bithumb compensates users after error

Erroneous payout contained within minutes

The incident occurred on February 6, 2026, during an event reward payout process, when a manual input error caused bitcoin quantities to be entered incorrectly. As a result, 695 users received unintended allocations totaling 620,000 BTC. Bithumb identified the abnormal transactions within 20 minutes and imposed trading and withdrawal restrictions on affected accounts within 35 minutes.

According to the exchange, 618,212 BTC, or 99.7%, were recovered on the same day. The remaining 1,788 BTC, which had already been sold internally, were fully offset using company-held assets to ensure complete balance consistency. Bithumb confirmed that no externally transferred bitcoin left the platform and that all wallet balances continue to match customer deposits on a one-to-one basis.

Although the sudden selling briefly caused sharp price fluctuations, the exchange said market conditions normalized within minutes and its automated liquidation-prevention systems functioned as intended, avoiding broader cascading liquidations.

Compensation plan targets panic-sell losses

While Bithumb reported no permanent loss of customer assets, it acknowledged that some users executed trades at disadvantageous prices during the brief volatility window. The exchange estimates the total potential customer impact at approximately ₩10 billion ($7.5 million) and has committed to full restitution.

Compensation measures include 110% reimbursement for panic-sell losses, covering both the price difference and an additional premium. All users who were logged into the platform during the incident window will receive a ₩20,000 cash payout, and trading fees across all markets will be set to zero for seven days starting February 9. Bithumb also announced the creation of a permanent ₩100 billion customer protection fund designed to provide immediate coverage in the event of future incidents.

The exchange said compensation payments will be processed automatically following transaction verification, with most refunds expected to be completed within one week.

Strengthened controls and regulatory oversight

Bithumb confirmed it has reported the incident to all relevant authorities and is cooperating with an on-site inspection by South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service. The company outlined multiple reforms, including enhanced asset verification systems, mandatory multi-level approvals for payouts, AI-based anomaly detection, and a full external audit by global security firms.

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