Bithumb to Establish 100 Billion KRW "Customer Protection Fund" and Compensate for Erroneous Payment Incident

Odaily News Bithumb has issued an announcement stating that it failed to uphold the primary principles of a virtual asset trading platform: "stability and integrity." Following the incident, it has reported to all relevant authorities and is fully cooperating with the investigation by the Financial Supervisory Service. To prevent such incidents from recurring, Bithumb has implemented innovative measures to strengthen its internal control system.

(1) Enhanced Asset Verification System: We will strengthen the verification system for customer and company assets during payment processes based on incidents or company policies.

(2) Improved Multi-Step Payment System: We will improve previously overlooked procedures to ensure that customer asset transfers and reward payments require at least two payment steps, thereby preventing similar incidents.

(3) Strengthened Abnormal Transaction Detection and Automatic Blocking AI System: We will operate a 24/7 "security guard" system to immediately detect any abnormal transactions or data, preventing incidents at the source.

(4) Commissioning External System Audits by Professional Institutions: We will commission global security expert institutions to conduct comprehensive system evaluations of Bithumb and transparently disclose the assessment results.

Bithumb will assume full responsibility for preventing customer losses. Since the second announcement, although no direct customer asset losses due to payment errors have occurred, it has been confirmed that panic selling (trading under conditions unfavorable to customers) occurred during the incident due to a sharp market price drop. Bithumb considers these transactions part of its responsibility to protect customers and plans to provide full compensation to affected customers, including additional compensation.

As of 16:00 on February 7, 2026, the estimated customer loss is approximately 1 billion KRW, and plans are in place to compensate for any additional losses that may arise.

(1) Special 110% Compensation for Panic Selling: Customers who sold assets at low prices during the panic selling trading window (February 6, 2026, 19:30-19:45) due to this incident will receive full compensation of the selling price plus an additional 10%. (Automatic payment within one week after data verification)

(2) Compensation Payment to All Customers Who Accessed Bithumb During the Incident: All customers who accessed Bithumb's services during the incident will receive 20,000 KRW in compensation within one week.

(3) Zero Transaction Fees for All Customers: To thank all customers for their trust and support, we will reduce transaction fees for all trading instruments to 0% for 7 days. (Separate notice to follow)

(4) Establishment of a Permanent 100 Billion KRW "Customer Protection Fund": We will establish a dedicated fund to immediately safeguard customer assets in case of unexpected incidents. Bithumb will learn from this incident and prioritize "customer trust and peace of mind" over external growth.