Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange still recovering from a major error that led to an unexpected Bitcoin payout, is now pursuing legal action to reclaim the remaining funds.
A recent report from Chosun Biz, a Korean news source, states that the exchange has legally requested the temporary seizure of approximately 7 Bitcoin. This Bitcoin, worth around 700 million won when the mistake happened, is currently held by users who haven’t returned it.
The move marks a hardening stance more than two months after the fiasco erupted on Feb. 6.
Bithumb held a promotional event where they planned to give away small cash prizes, totaling about 620,000 won. The prizes ranged from 2,000 to 50,000 won each, and were to be distributed among 249 participants.
A staff member mistakenly entered “Bitcoin” instead of Korean won into the system. As a result, the system incorrectly credited users with a total of 620,000 Bitcoin, which was worth approximately 60 trillion won (over $40 billion) at the time.
The exchange quickly identified the mistake – within 35 minutes – and immediately stopped trading and withdrawals for the 695 accounts impacted. They then started recovering the funds. However, some people who received the incorrect funds had already sold parts of it before the freeze took effect.
A sudden sell-off caused a significant, temporary price decrease for Bitcoin on the Bithumb exchange. Bithumb then took responsibility by covering the financial losses, providing additional funds to traders who were impacted, and publicly apologizing for the issue. The exchange later stated that they were able to correct almost all of the incorrect credits by adjusting their internal records, recovering 99.7% of the funds.
The Holdouts
By the beginning of April, almost all of the mistakenly sent Bitcoin had been returned or accounted for. Only a small amount remained outstanding, held by a few users who haven’t responded to multiple requests to give it back.
Bithumb first attempted to resolve the issue through discussion. When that didn’t work, they decided to pursue legal options.
The request to temporarily seize assets includes the last 7 Bitcoin and any related accounts. In Korea, this process can quickly freeze funds – usually within a few days – while a more complete legal case about unfair gains is being built.
Legal experts believe the exchange is legally justified. Courts usually require that mistakenly sent assets be returned as the original assets themselves, not as the equivalent cash value at the time of the mistake. Because Bitcoin is now worth much more than it was in February, anyone who received mistakenly transferred coins and has already spent or traded them might now face a significant loss.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, there’s a disagreement: some believe the company isn’t responsible for refunds if the error was their own. However, the law requires returning money that was clearly overpaid, regardless of who made the mistake.
The lingering fallout
The incident in February sparked significant concern from regulators and lawmakers, who were puzzled by how such a simple mistake wasn’t caught by the company’s safeguards. This happened right before Bithumb faced a 37 billion won fine and a temporary business shutdown due to failures in preventing money laundering.
Bithumb hasn’t made any public statements about the recent legal action, other than to say authorities have temporarily frozen some assets. The company assures customers that protecting their funds remains its top priority and it’s working to recover the rest of the money.
The small group of people who initially seemed to win big with a cryptocurrency in February might now face a costly legal fight.
People throughout the financial industry are paying close attention to this case, as it will likely set a precedent for how exchanges and courts deal with mistakes made in the fast-moving world of digital currencies.
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2026-04-09 10:14