Bithumb to reimburse users, offer 10% compensation after Bitcoin snafu

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Published: 08 Feb. 2026, 19:50

The prices of digital assets including the Bitcoin are displayed on a screen at Bithumb Lounge in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 23. [NEWS1]

Bithumb, one of Korea's crypto exchanges, said Sunday it will reimburse customers who suffered losses from panic selling triggered by an internal transfer error last week.

The cryptocurrency exchange mistakenly transferred 620,000 Bitcoins to 249 users participating in a promotional event around 7 p.m. Friday. That amounted to an average of 2,490 tokens worth 244 billion won ($166 million) per user. Some recipients sold the Bitcoin, causing a brief but sharp drop in prices.

The company said it will fully compensate affected customers for their losses and provide an additional 10 percent compensation.

The exchange also said it will waive trading fees on all listed assets for one week starting at midnight Monday.

Bithumb said it has activated a companywide crisis management system led by senior executives and formed a task force to address investor losses.

Bithumb earlier said it had recovered 618,212 Bitcoins and later recouped 93 percent of the 1,788 Bitcoins sold by users.

Yonhap