Bithumb Wins Two Lawsuits Over 620,000 BTC Credit Error

• Bithumb has won two lawsuits seeking recovery from users who sold mistaken Bitcoin credits.
• The exchange recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 BTC mistakenly credited during February’s promotion.
• Regulatory scrutiny continues as Bithumb strengthens controls ahead of its planned 2028 IPO.

Bithumb has secured two court victories over customers who sold Bitcoin mistakenly credited during a promotional campaign in February 2026.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in Bithumb’s favor in two separate unjust enrichment cases, strengthening its recovery efforts. The rulings involve customers who sold erroneously credited Bitcoin before the exchange restricted affected accounts and recovered most assets.

Bithumb Secures Two Court Victories

The latest ruling concerned approximately 194 million Korean won, equivalent to about $140,513 based on reported figures. The court ordered the defendant to return proceeds generated from selling Bitcoin that Bithumb mistakenly credited to their account.

Bithumb had filed four civil lawsuits in March against users who retained proceeds after selling the incorrectly credited Bitcoin. The exchange previously won another case involving approximately five million won, marking its second successful lawsuit overall.

Meanwhile, two remaining claims involve approximately 14.8 million won and 500 million won, respectively, according to a report. The legal victories could strengthen Bithumb’s position as it seeks recovery from users affected by the accounting error.

However, the remaining proceedings will determine whether similar reasoning applies across the other outstanding claims.

620,000 BTC Error Triggers Regulatory Scrutiny

The dispute began on February 6, when Bithumb distributed promotional rewards to hundreds of customers participating in an event. An employee reportedly entered Bitcoin as the reward unit instead of Korean won, creating an extraordinary internal crediting error.

Bithumb intended to distribute 620,000 won, but mistakenly credited approximately 620,000 BTC across affected customer accounts. Bitcoin was worth roughly $43 billion at that time, making the incident one of crypto’s most significant operational errors.

Bithumb, in a notice, detected the problem quickly and blocked trading and withdrawals for 695 customers within approximately 35 minutes of distribution. The exchange subsequently recovered 618,212 BTC, representing approximately 99.7% of the mistakenly credited amount.

However, customers had already sold 1,788 BTC, requiring Bithumb to pursue recovery through additional measures and court proceedings. The incident briefly pushed Bithumb’s BTC-KRW trading pair sharply lower, with prices falling approximately 15% during the disruption.

South Korean financial authorities subsequently investigated Bithumb’s internal controls, risk management, and procedures surrounding customer asset accounting. Bithumb also said it would redesign its payment processes and strengthen internal controls to prevent similar mistakes. 

The exchange is targeting an initial public offering in 2028, increasing scrutiny surrounding governance and operational safeguards.