Bithumb’s $44B “Fat Finger”: 2,000 BTC Error Triggers 17% Flash Crash
Bithumb mistakenly credited $44B in Bitcoin to users instead of $1.40 rewards, causing a 17% local flash crash before recovering 99.7% of the funds.
South Korea’s second-largest exchange, Bithumb, accidentally distributed 620,000 BTC ($44 billion) to 695 users this weekend, triggering a liquidity crisis that forced Bitcoin to flash-crash 17% on the platform before a freeze was imposed. The exchange has since confirmed it recovered 99.7% of the erroneous funds, though regulators have already launched emergency on-site inspections.
The $44 Billion Typo
The operational failure occurred during a “Random Box” promotional event intended to distribute small rewards of roughly 2,000 KRW (~$1.40) to participants. According to local reports, a staff member incorrectly input the reward unit as “BTC” instead of “Won.”
The result was an immediate credit of 2,000 BTC (approx. $140 million) to each of the 695 qualified accounts. For context, the 620,000 BTC total represented nearly 3% of the entire Bitcoin circulating supply, notionally exceeding the exchange’s likely solvency if withdrawn.
Flash Crash to $55K
Market reaction was instantaneous. Recipients rushed to liquidate the windfall, driving Bithumb’s BTC/KRW pair down to 81.1 million KRW (~$55,000), a 17% discount to the global spot price of ~$70,000. Arbitrage bots and traders absorbed the initial sell wall before Bithumb’s risk engines flagged the anomaly.
The exchange suspended all trading and withdrawals 35 minutes after the distribution. While the majority of funds were clawed back from internal balances, Bithumb admitted that approximately 125 BTC (~$8.7 million) was successfully withdrawn or sold into KRW before the freeze. The exchange stated it will cover this shortfall from company reserves and compensate users who suffered from panic-induced slippage.
We would like to make it clear that this incident is unrelated to external hacking or security breaches, and there are no problems with system security.
Regulators swarm
The Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) convened an emergency meeting immediately following the incident. Authorities have dispatched inspectors to Bithumb’s headquarters to audit internal controls and reserve management systems. The incident complicates Bithumb’s roadmap for a planned IPO, handing ammunition to critics citing “systemic vulnerabilities” in centralized crypto infrastructure.
