Bithumb Admits System Flaw Led to Erroneous Transfer of 620,000 Bitcoins

Odaily News: South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has acknowledged a critical flaw in its internal system, which resulted in an erroneous transfer of 620,000 bitcoins to users instead of the intended 620,000 Korean won. This error briefly caused Bitcoin's price on the Bithumb platform to plummet by 17% and prompted an investigation by South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service. It also exposed deficiencies in the exchange's asset matching and account segregation controls.

Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won stated that the incident was primarily caused by a 24-hour delay in transaction processing and a lag in updating cryptocurrency holdings. Although the exchange has recovered most of the bitcoins, 1,786 bitcoins sold before the accounts were frozen remain unrecovered. South Korean lawmakers have expressed concerns over the lack of effective regulation in the country's virtual asset market, especially given that the number of cryptocurrency investors in South Korea has reached 10 million, making it one of the most active markets globally in terms of trading volume. (Coindesk)