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Bithumb has apologised for staff error that sent customers 620,000 bitcoins instead of 620,000 Korean won, equivalent to a few hundred US dollars.
South Korea’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange is scrambling to recover more than $40bn of cryptocurrency after accidentally crediting customers with 620,000 bitcoins during a promotional event last week.
Bithumb said it had corrected most of the mistaken credits, but that about 13bn won ($9m) remained unrecovered after some recipients sold or withdrew the funds before the error was detected.
The mistake occurred on 6 February, when an employee entered prize amounts in bitcoin rather than Korean won during a “random box” promotional event. The plan had been to send a total of 620,000 won ($423) in prizes to 695 qualifying customers, but the employee instead sent 620,000 bitcoins ($42bn). Of those eligible, 249 opened their prize boxes and received their reward, equivalent to roughly 14 times more bitcoin than the exchange owns.
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Lee Chan-jin, governor of South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), called it “catastrophic” for those who sold the bitcoin they received. Bitcoin prices have risen since Friday, meaning any customers required to return cryptocurrency could face losses. Lee added that the incident exposed “structural problems” in how exchanges operate internal ledger systems.
Separately, legal experts are divided on whether recipients who sold what they received could face criminal prosecution, given a 2021 supreme court ruling that cryptocurrency does not constitute “property” under Korean criminal law.
Bithumb said it corrected 99.7% of the erroneous credits by reversing internal ledger entries and issued an apology. However, 86 customers sold about 1,788 bitcoins in the 35 minutes before the exchange froze the affected accounts, financial authorities said, triggering a brief price drop on its platform. Some had been withdrawn to personal bank accounts, and some was used to buy other cryptocurrencies, according to local media.
The exchange is now holding what it described as “one-on-one persuasion” talks with roughly 80 customers who cashed out, asking them to return the won equivalent voluntarily.
It is reportedly seeking to avoid civil lawsuits, where courts could, under civil law, order the return of the original asset rather than its cash equivalent.
The FSS escalated its response to a full investigation, while the country’s parliament has scheduled an emergency hearing for 11 February to question both the exchange and financial authorities.
Bithumb said in its apology: “Bithumb takes this incident very seriously and will do its utmost to prevent recurrence by redesigning the entire asset payment process and enhancing the internal control system.
“We want to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to any external hacking or security breach, and does not pose any issues with system security or customer asset management.
$BTC $USDC $ETH
#RiskAssetsMarketShock #Korea #Write2Earn

South Korea is preparing for a major policy shift in its approach to digital assets. The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has confirmed that spot Bitcoin ETFs are expected to be listed on the Korea Exchange (KRX) under the country’s 2026 Economic Growth Strategy. This move reflects growing regulatory acceptance and positions South Korea as a potential hub for institutional crypto investment in Asia.
From a market perspective, Bitcoin is currently consolidating near the $90,000 region, with momentum indicators suggesting stability rather than exhaustion. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) remains in neutral-to-bullish territory, indicating that price action is not yet overheated. Ethereum, meanwhile, continues to test psychological support near $3,000, where buyers are attempting to defend key levels amid cautious sentiment.
Market dynamics within South Korea are also evolving. Retail participation has declined noticeably, while institutional activity now accounts for more than 90% of domestic trading volume. This shift has contributed to the normalization of the Kimchi Premium, which has stabilized within a narrower range compared to earlier cycles. Such conditions suggest a more mature and less speculative local market structure.
Whale and smart-money data reveal a mixed but constructive outlook. Bitcoin whale positions are split between longs and shorts, while Ethereum whales show a higher concentration of short exposure at elevated price levels. Despite this, top trader signals continue to favor buying, particularly during short-term pullbacks, indicating confidence among professional participants.
However, risks remain. Elevated leverage across derivatives markets has resulted in significant liquidations over the past 24 hours, highlighting ongoing volatility. In addition, regulatory friction between South Korea’s financial authorities regarding stablecoin oversight could delay ETF implementation, raising the possibility of a short-term “sell-the-news” reaction.
Overall, the broader trend points toward gradual institutional accumulation rather than aggressive speculation. If regulatory clarity improves and key technical levels hold, South Korea’s ETF initiative could become a meaningful catalyst for the next phase of crypto market development.
#etf #ETFvsBTC #Korea

Hàn Quốc đã tạm thời đình chỉ các dịch vụ cho vay tiền điện tử mới sau một sự kiện thanh lý lớn tại sàn giao dịch #Bithumb , nơi hơn 13% trong số 27.000 người dùng đã bị thanh lý vị thế. Động thái này là phản ứng trực tiếp với rủi ro đòn bẩy ngày càng tăng trên thị trường.

Nguyên nhân và hành động

Ủy ban Dịch vụ Tài chính (#FSC ) của Hàn Quốc cho biết việc tạm dừng là cần thiết vì các công cụ bảo vệ người dùng hiện tại "không đủ" và có "những lo ngại về thiệt hại đối với một trật tự giao dịch lành mạnh." Quyết định này sẽ kéo dài cho đến khi các hướng dẫn chính thức về dịch vụ cho vay được ban hành.
Các nhà phân tích cho rằng hành động của Hàn Quốc không phải là một lệnh cấm vĩnh viễn, mà là một tín hiệu cho thấy chính phủ đang tìm cách kiểm soát chặt chẽ hơn đòn bẩy và rủi ro của nhà đầu tư nhỏ lẻ. Đây được xem là một bước đi cần thiết để tạo ra các quy tắc rõ ràng, bảo vệ người dùng tốt hơn.

Bối cảnh toàn cầu

Sự việc tại Hàn Quốc là một ví dụ cho xu hướng đòn bẩy đang gia tăng trên toàn cầu. Một báo cáo của Galaxy Digital cho thấy tổng giá trị các khoản vay được thế chấp bằng tiền điện tử đã đạt mức cao nhất mọi thời đại là 44.25 tỷ USD, tăng gần 30% so với quý trước.
Các chuyên gia tại Bitfinex cũng chỉ ra rằng tổng giá trị thanh lý vẫn ở mức cao, trung bình hơn 350 triệu USD mỗi ngày trong 30 ngày qua. Điều này cho thấy thị trường đang bước vào một giai đoạn dễ tổn thương hơn với rủi ro thanh lý cao. Hành động của Hàn Quốc có thể tạo tiền lệ cho các quốc gia khác trong việc kiểm soát đòn bẩy và bảo vệ thị trường. #Korea