A Bitcoin Blunder for the Ages: $40 Billion Accidentally Given Away

Source: Slashdot

Background

An anonymous reader reported that a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange ran a promotional campaign in which hundreds of prize payouts were only a few bucks each. The total reward pool was 620,000 KRW (about $425).

The Mistake

A staff member at Bithumb, South Korea’s second‑largest crypto exchange, entered the payout amount incorrectly. Instead of distributing 620,000 KRW, the system sent 620,000 BTC—worth more than $40 billion at the time.

Immediate Impact

• A winner who should have received 2,000 KRW (roughly the price of a cheap cup of coffee) briefly held over $120 million in Bitcoin.
• The sudden influx of sell orders caused the Bitcoin market to drop 17 %.
• Bithumb halted transactions after about 30 minutes.

The losses incurred by other investors who held Bitcoin during the brief market dip were reported at about $685,000.

Aftermath

• Bithumb says it has reversed the transactions or that recipients voluntarily returned more than 99 % of the mis‑distributed Bitcoins.
• The exchange is still urging the few users who managed to offload over 100 BTC (valued at roughly $9 million) during the brief window to return the equivalent funds.