Bithumb $43 Billion Bitcoin Blunder Triggers | Crypto News
South Korean lawmakers are ramping up strain on financial regulators after a system failure at Bithumb, the nation’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, led to the unintended distribution of more than $43 billion price of Bitcoin (BTC) earlier this month.
The February 6 incident has triggered political scrutiny of both the exchange itself and the businesses accountable for overseeing the digital asset market.
Behind The Bithumb Massive Bitcoin Mishap
According to local reporting by The Korea Times, members of the National Assembly are questioning how such a huge error might slip through despite repeated regulatory inspections.
Rep. Kang Min-guk of the main opposition People Power Party disclosed that the nation’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) reviewed Bithumb thrice between 2022 and 2025.
Over the same period, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) carried out three separate inspections. Yet regulators failed to detect what has now been described as a crucial structural weak spot in the exchange’s system.
Kang argued that present oversight mechanisms have been insufficient. He identified that safeguards have been inadequate to stop a scenario in which a single worker might provoke huge coin transfers. Kang said:
The episode just isn’t merely a technical mishap but a case that lays naked deeper structural weaknesses in the digital asset market, including complacent supervision and gaps in regulation.
Instead of crediting customers with Bitcoin price 2,000 received — roughly $1.38 — the system mistakenly credited 2,000 Bitcoin per person. In complete, 620,000 Bitcoin have been incorrectly distributed.
Rep. Han Chang-min of the minor Social Democratic Party also criticized regulators, questioning whether or not supervisory authorities had meaningfully evaluated the exchange’s inner systems. “Authorities appeared to be shifting responsibility onto Bithumb despite their supervisory role,” Han said.
Broader Crypto Oversight
In response to the incident, the FSS prolonged the deadline for its formal investigation from Feb. 13 to the end of the month, citing the need for further time.
An eight-member inspection workforce is now intensifying its review, focusing on doable violations associated to investor safety and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
Particular consideration is being given to the system structure that allowed cash not really held by the exchange to be credited to customers. Regulators haven’t ruled out the chance that additional faulty distributions might be uncovered.
Separately, financial authorities have reportedly fashioned an emergency response workforce in coordination with the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA), a self-regulatory physique representing home exchanges.
The workforce has begun inspections of asset verification and inner control systems at 4 other platforms — Upbit, Coinone, Korbit, and GOPAX. Any deficiencies are anticipated to be included into DAXA’s self-regulatory pointers and might affect the next part of cryptocurrency laws in South Korea.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin was trading at $67,763, marking a 2% decline over the past seven days and exhibiting minimal change since Thursday’s trading session.
Featured image from OpenArt, chart from TradingView.com
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