On January 6, South Korea’s second-largest crypto exchange accidentally airdropped more Bitcoin to some of its users. The event led to some users selling the BTC they received, causing price fluctuations for the BTC/KRW pair on the exchange, which normalized quickly.
Unfortunately, this accident led to FUD around Bithumb on X and incorrect reports about what happened.
However, the crypto exchange addressed the issue, highlighting the cause, status of asset recovery, and a compensation plan.
Bithumb’s official statement about the February 6 event
On February 7, Bithumb issued an apology to customers regarding the incorrect BTC distribution to some users, offering key details about the event.
Incident cause and Bithumb’s immediate response
During the BTC reward distribution event, an input error occurred when entering the BTC amount, which led to some users receiving incorrect amounts of BTC. Important details include the following:
- Rewards were distributed to 695 users on February 6 at 19:00.
- 620,000 BTC (currently worth over $42 billion) were incorrectly distributed.
- The incorrect distribution was identified at 19:20.
- Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals at 19:35, fully suspending them at 19:40.
The incorrect distribution led to some users selling the BTC they received, which led to a market price of BTC/KRW experiencing a sharp fluctuation on the exchange.
Status of asset recovery
Bithumb revealed that:
- 99.7% of the airdropped BTC, totalling 618,212 BTC, were recovered.
- 1,788 BTC (worth over $1.21 million) were sold, but 93% of the equivalent assets (KRW and crypto) have been recovered.
- No external BTC transfer was detected.
The exchange pointed out that any BTC that hasn’t yet been recovered and was sold will be compensated using Bithumb’s assets.
No external hacking or security breach involved
Bithumb highlighted that the event was not related to any external hack or security breach:
- The exchange’s system security and customer asset management do not have any issues.
- Trading, deposits, and withdrawals are operating normally.
- Transparency about the event is guaranteed 100%.
Bithumb’s compensation plan
Meanwhile, reports from Wu Blockchain revealed the exact details about the exchange’s compensation plan:
- 110% compensation for users who sold at low prices during the incident (meaning full price difference and 10% in additional compensation)
- 20,000 KRW compensation for all users who were online during the event.
- Zero trading fees for all users for seven days.
- Establishment of a 100 billion KRW “Customer Protection Fund” to handle future emergencies.
- A future upgrade of the internal control system, strengthening asset verification, and a multi-layer approval process.
吴说获悉，韩国第二大加密交易所 Bithumb 发布公告，就 2 月 6 日发生的误发奖励事故再次致歉，并公布补偿方案及改进措施。Bithumb 表示已向监管机构报告并配合调查。针对此次事故造成的损失，Bithumb 承诺全额赔偿，目前预估损失约 10 亿韩元。补偿方案包括：对事故期间低价卖出的用户进行 110%…
— 吴说区块链 (@wublockchain12) February 7, 2026
It’s also important to highlight that some X users and even crypto outlets have incorrectly reported the Bithumb incident online, spreading FUD about the exchange, and suggesting that users received BTC instead of KRW. However, the exchange’s reports are very clear so far.
Despite the recent market crash and continued FUD about some crypto exchanges, the general crypto market seems to be recovering.
On February 7, the market is up by more than 3%, and BTC is trading above $67,000, after dipping to $60,000 levels on February 6.
