South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb said on Saturday (February 7) it had accidentally given away more than $40 billion worth of bitcoins to customers as promotional rewards, triggering a sharp selloff.
Breakdown
- Bithumb accidentally distributed 620,000 bitcoins during a reward campaign 6s
- Trading and withdrawals for 695 users were restricted after the error 12s
- Bithumb recovered 99.7% of the bitcoins by the next day 16s
- Regulators will review Bithumb and other exchanges' internal controls 55s
- Bitcoin prices briefly slumped 17% after the incident but later recovered 1m 12s