South Korean cryptocurrency platform Bithumb mistakenly gave away 620,000 bitcoins to 249 users During a promotional event, the company said in a statement Saturday.
The incident occurred on Friday afternoon, when the company accidentally sent 2,490 bitcoins to event participants (about $174 million each), according to South Korean media.
The error occurred because an employee wrote “BTC” (the currency acronym) instead of “Korean won” when processing the reward.
Bithumb immediately suspended transactions for affected customers and recovered most of the funds, including approximately 1,663 bitcoins that some users had already sold. However, about 125 bitcoins remain unrecovered.
The company stated that it will take “ all necessary measures to prevent a recurrence“, including redesigning its payment process and improving its internal controls. The error caused a brief drop in Bitcoin’s price on the platform due to sales made by some accidental beneficiaries.
Bitcoin hits its lowest level since Donald Trump returned to the White House last Tuesdayerasing all the gains accumulated after the US president’s election victory, which was considered favorable to cryptocurrencies.
The leading digital currency extends its nearly four-month downtrend, falling below $74,424.95 that same day. The decline began after Trump announced new trade tariffs in April 2025, which rattled global financial markets.
Despite a favorable political environment and the advancement of institutional adoption, Bitcoin has retreated nearly 40% from its all-time high reached in early October.
The worsened after a wave of sell-offs on October 10, 2025, triggered by new comments from Trump on tariffs, which led to the liquidation of $19 billion in leveraged bets and left the market without immediate recovery capacity.
Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency launched on the marketwas created by Satoshi Nakamoto (pseudonym) in 2008 after the global financial crisis; This digital currency promoted a libertarian ideal and sought to challenge traditional monetary and financial institutions.
Known in the world of markets by the acronym BTC, Bitcoin use cryptography to ensure that its management is decentralizedmeaning that it cannot be regulated by any institution or banking body, which in turn makes cryptocurrencies volatile.
The price of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin reached $71,414.75 per unit early Saturday. From Thursday to Friday, the digital currency declined by 8.15%. Based on its market capitalization, this digital currency ranks as the most popular.
