S Korean crypto exchange mistakenly sends $40bn in bitcoin to users
A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange accidentally transferred more than $40 billion worth of bitcoin to hundreds of customers after a technical error turned a small promotional reward into a massive payout.
The platform, Bithumb, had intended to give users a bonus of 2,000 won (about $1.37), but instead distributed 2,000 bitcoins to each recipient on Friday.
The mistake briefly made affected users extremely wealthy before the exchange detected the problem. According to the company, trading and withdrawals for the 695 impacted accounts were restricted within 35 minutes of the glitch.
Bithumb later issued an apology and said it managed to recover nearly all of the mistakenly distributed bitcoin, adding that systems were quickly secured once the error was identified.
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