Back to today’s briefing

Story perspectives

Bithumb's $40 Billion Bitcoin Blunder: Trading Halted

2/7/2026

36 4

Summary

Story summary

Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion in bitcoin as rewards on February 6, 2026, to 695 customers, with at least 2,000 bitcoins each.
Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals and recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins involved.
Bitcoin fell 17% to 81.1 million won before rebounding to 104.5 million won.
The company stated the error was not linked to hacking or security issues.

1 of 1

Story summary

Bithumb, a South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion in bitcoin as rewards on February 6, 2026, to 695 customers, with at least 2,000 bitcoins each.
Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals and recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins involved.
Bitcoin fell 17% to 81.1 million won before rebounding to 104.5 million won.
The company stated the error was not linked to hacking or security issues.