$43 Billion Bitcoin Error at Bithumb Triggers Audit Crisis in South Korea

System Error Triggers Market Panic Bithumb, one of South Korea's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, experienced a major technical glitch during a promotional campaign on February 6.
Due to a system malfunction, users were credited with 2,000 Bitcoin each instead of the intended 2 Korean won.
As a result of this error, approximately 620,000 Bitcoin—valued at roughly $43 billion—were reflected in user accounts, despite the exchange not actually possessing these assets.
The discovery of the error led some users to attempt rapid sales, causing short-term panic selling and price fluctuations across the cryptocurrency market.
The incident has reignited debates regarding the reliability and oversight mechanisms of digital asset platforms.
Harsh Criticism for Regulatory Bodies Members of the South Korean National Assembly have heavily criticized the Financial Services Commission (FSC), the country's financial regulator, for oversight failures.
Lawmakers pointed out that despite the FSC conducting at least three audits of Bithumb since 2022, such a critical system error remained undetected.
Kang Min-guk, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, emphasized that the incident is more than a simple technical glitch, calling it an indicator of structural vulnerabilities and regulatory gaps in the crypto market.
The FSC announced that it launched an official investigation into the matter on February 10, with the inquiry expected to continue until the end of February.
Missing Assets and Security Protocols During an emergency meeting at the National Assembly, Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won confirmed that similar, albeit smaller-scale, errors had occurred in the past.
While the exchange has recovered the majority of the 620,000 Bitcoin mistakenly credited, it was reported that approximately 125 Bitcoin, worth about $8.6 million, have not yet been retrieved.
This scandal has brought past issues regarding digital asset security in South Korea back to the forefront.
Authorities state that the technical infrastructure and security protocols of cryptocurrency exchanges must be more strictly audited to prevent irreparable damage to investor confidence.