Cryptocurrency platform mistakenly sends nearly €40 billion in bitcoin to hundreds of customers in South Korea

The South Korean cryptocurrency platform Bithumb had to apologize this Saturday due to a somewhat unusual problem. She mistakenly sent bitcoins to users worth around… 37 billion euros.

The company explained in a press release that it had transferred 620,000 units of this cryptocurrency to 695 customers. Their operations were blocked within 35 minutes of this false manipulation which occurred on Friday.

The company wanted to offer… 1.15 euros to its customers

The price of bitcoin is falling this week due in particular to aversion to assets deemed volatile and regulatory uncertainties. But it still reached 59,000 euros this Saturday morning compared to 52,000 at its lowest on Friday.

According to local media, Bithumb intended to send 2,000 won (1.15 euros) to each of its users as part of a promotion. But some beneficiaries, luckier than expected, received 2,000 bitcoins instead. The accident caused a very short selling movement on the platform.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers due to the confusion during the distribution process of this promotional event,” Bithumb said. The company claimed to have recovered 99.7% of the bitcoins improperly transferred, adding that it would use its own reserves to make up the lost amount.

She admitted that her error caused “high volatility” of bitcoin on the platform for five minutes. Users had time to make sales before measures were taken to return the price to normal.

Bithumb charts show that bitcoin briefly lost 17% to 81.1 million won (around 46,860 euros) on Friday evening. The company also certified that the situation is “not linked to external hacking or security breaches”.