South Korean Lawmakers Question Bithumb CEO Over False Bitcoin Transfer Incident

Odaily News South Korean lawmakers questioned Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won on Wednesday regarding a $4 billion false Bitcoin transfer incident caused by human error. The incident occurred during the execution of a promotional event last week, where an employee mistakenly processed a customer payment in Bitcoin instead of Korean Won, leading to the appearance of false Bitcoin in the market. Democratic Party lawmaker Min Byeong-deok stated that Bithumb gave away Bitcoin that the company did not own, which constitutes naked short selling. Currently, the Financial Supervisory Service has launched an investigation into the compliance systems and risk management of the country's second-largest digital asset platform. Financial Services Commission Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young said the government believes this incident has exposed risks related to virtual assets and vulnerabilities in internal control systems, and will seek institutional reforms through an emergency response team, including inspections of all exchanges. (Bloomberg)