Bithumb Recovers 99.7% of $40 Billion Bitcoin Airdrop After KRW Promo Glitch

TLDR

• Bithumb accidentally distributed 620,000 BTC during a reward event to 695 users.
• Bitcoin price dropped to $55K on Bithumb due to sudden sell-offs of mis-sent BTC.
• The exchange recovered 99.7% of the BTC and used its own funds to cover the rest.
• Users who sold at lower prices will be compensated and given a 10% bonus.
• South Korea’s FSC is investigating the airdrop error with an emergency inspection.

South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb confirmed it has recovered nearly all of the Bitcoin that was mistakenly distributed to users during a promotional event on February 6, 2026. The platform stated that the issue was caused by an internal system configuration error and not a security breach.

The airdrop mistake briefly caused the price of Bitcoin to fall on the exchange’s BTC/KRW pair, though global markets remained unaffected.

System Error Leads to Unintended Bitcoin Transfers

According to an official statement from Bithumb, the issue occurred during a reward campaign where users were supposed to receive 2,000 Korean won in incentives. Due to a system configuration mistake, the rewards were instead sent in Bitcoin.

As a result, 620,000 BTC were wrongly credited to 695 users. Some users immediately sold the Bitcoin, causing the BTC/KRW price on Bithumb to plunge to around $55,000. During that time, Bitcoin continued to trade above $66,000 on other exchanges.

Bithumb identified the issue within minutes and immediately froze the affected accounts to prevent further losses. The exchange clarified that the incident was operational and not linked to any hacking attempt.

Rapid Recovery and Reimbursement Strategy

Bithumb stated that it was able to recover approximately 99.7% of the mis-sent Bitcoin. For the small portion that was sold before accounts were frozen, the exchange used its own funds to restore affected balances.

By late February 7, the company confirmed that all user balances were fully restored.

To support affected traders, Bithumb announced that users who sold Bitcoin at the temporarily reduced price would receive full reimbursement based on market value. Additionally, a 10% bonus will be paid as part of compensation.

Authorities Investigate Airdrop Mistake

The Financial Services Commission (FSC) of South Korea launched a formal review of the error. On February 7, an emergency inspection meeting was held in Seoul, chaired by FSC Vice Chairman Kwon Dae-young.

Officials from the Financial Supervisory Service and the Financial Intelligence Unit also attended. Authorities described the error as a case of large-scale misdelivery and confirmed they are monitoring Bithumb’s follow-up actions closely.

Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won issued a public apology and outlined a clear compensation plan. He said the company takes full responsibility and will ensure customer trust is maintained.

Exchange Implements New Safeguards

Bithumb has formed an internal task force to strengthen its operational systems and prevent such issues from happening again. The team is focused on improving monitoring tools, automating alerts, and enforcing stricter checks for reward-based campaigns.

The exchange also stated that it will introduce new staff training programs and upgrade its internal risk control systems.

Trading on Bithumb has since resumed normally, and the platform emphasized that user assets are secure.

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