In a case that highlights both the high stakes of crypto trading and the “fat-finger” risks facing major platforms, the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has officially launched legal proceedings to recover 7 Bitcoin (BTC) still missing from a chaotic payout error that occurred in February.
The exchange recently filed for a provisional attachment—a court-approved measure that freezes a defendant’s assets before a civil lawsuit begins—targeting a handful of users who have refused to return the funds. While 7 BTC might seem like a drop in the bucket for an exchange of Bithumb’s size, the legal move signals a zero-tolerance policy for users attempting to profit from technical glitches.
The $42 Billion Mistake: How 620,000 BTC Were Sent in Error
The saga began on February 6, when Bithumb intended to reward 249 promotional event winners with a modest prize of 620,000 Korean won (approximately $420) each. However, a catastrophic input error resulted in the system attempting to distribute 620,000 Bitcoin instead. At the time of the error, that amount of BTC was valued at roughly 62 trillion won, or roughly $42 billion.
Bithumb’s security systems and administrators managed to reverse the vast majority of these transactions within minutes, but the window was long enough for some users to move or sell their windfall. On the day of the incident, Bithumb reported a recovery rate of 99.7%. The remaining 0.3%, totaling 1,788 BTC, had already been liquidated or transferred. While the exchange covered the immediate shortfall using its own corporate reserves, it has spent the last several months chasing down the outliers.
Legal Consequences and New Regulatory Hardlines in South Korea
Most affected users complied with Bithumb’s request for a refund, but a small group has reportedly refused to cooperate. According to local reports from Chosun Biz, some recipients argued they aren’t liable to return the funds because the error was entirely the exchange’s fault. However, legal experts suggest this defense is unlikely to hold water. Under South Korean law, assets received through a technical error are classified as unjust enrichment, and withholding them can lead to both civil liability and potential criminal charges for embezzlement.
The Bithumb incident has sent shockwaves through the South Korean regulatory landscape, leading to immediate policy changes:
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Real-Time Reconciliation: The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has now mandated that all crypto exchanges reconcile their internal ledgers with actual holdings every five minutes.
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Fixing Response Delays: An FSC inspection revealed that three of the country’s top five exchanges were only checking balances once a day, a practice now deemed insufficient for preventing large-scale errors.
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Consumer Protection: These new rules are designed to ensure that if a “fat-finger” error occurs again, the discrepancy is caught and frozen before the assets can leave the platform.
