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Bithumb mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion worth of Bitcoin to some users due to an employee error, leading to a brief but sharp selloff on its platform.
The exchange will reimburse customers who made losses when they sold their holdings in a panic, with Chief Executive Officer Lee Jae-won saying some customers will be reimbursed their full loss spread and awarded an additional 10% bonus.
Bithumb estimated customer losses to be around 1 billion won as of Saturday and will use its corporate assets to cover any shortfall to ensure customer balances are restored.
South Korean crypto exchange Bithumb, which mistakenly distributed more than $40 billion worth of Bitcoin on Friday, said it will reimburse customers who made losses when they sold their holdings in a panic during a brief but sharp selloff on its platform.
Bithumb had intended to award 620,000 won ($424) to winners of a promotion, but an employee keyed in Bitcoin instead of the Korean currency, Yonhap News reported, citing people it didn’t identify. The error led to the distribution of 620,000 Bitcoin to 695 users at 7 p.m. local time Friday, a mistake that was identified within 20 minutes, the exchange said.
“An abnormal amount of Bitcoin was mistakenly distributed to some users,” the exchange said in a statement. “As some of the accounts proceeded to sell the credited Bitcoin, the Bitcoin price experienced a brief yet sharp fluctuation.”
On Bithumb, prices on Friday evening briefly dropped 17% from around 98.29 million won, or $67,188, to 81.1 million won, or around $55,400. Trading volume soared, charts from the exchange showed.
Bithumb started halting trading and withdrawals for the credited accounts at 7:35 p.m. and fully blocked it by 7:40 p.m., it said. The exchange managed to retrieve 99.7% of the distributed coins.
Chief Executive Officer Lee Jae-won said some customers who were effectively pushed into “panic‑selling” during the brief window the error occurred will be reimbursed their full loss spread and be awarded an additional 10% bonus.
“We offer our deepest apologies for the confusion and inconvenience,” Lee said in a statement on Saturday. “We acknowledge, with a deep sense of responsibility, that we failed to uphold the two core values that define a virtual‑asset exchange stability and integrity.”
As of 4 p.m. Saturday, the company estimated customer losses to be around 1 billion won. Bithumb will use its corporate assets to cover any shortfall to ensure customer balances are restored, it said.
The Financial Services Commission said it convened an emergency inspection meeting on Saturday, joined by other regulators.
Cryptocurrencies have been on shaky ground ever since a brutal series of liquidations in October that sapped market confidence. The selling picked up steam this week in line with the unwinding of leveraged bets and broader market turbulence.
Bitcoin rose as much as 13% to $71,469 on Friday. Earlier in the session, it came close to falling below $60,000 for the first time since October 2024. The token was trading at around $68,000 on Saturday.

Gold has regained strength near $5,000 as a weaker U.S. dollar, steady central bank buying, and reduced volatility support rebounds in both gold and silver.
Gold (XAU) price increased to $5,000 on Monday in Asian trading hours. This positive move in the gold price is due to the weaker US dollar and persistent central bank demand. With the U.S. labor market report for January delayed until Wednesday, traders are looking at wider signals of macro and geopolitical nature. The absence of flow of immediate data has dampened short-term volatility and given gold some breathing space to recover as investors re-evaluate their outlook on interest rate movements.
A major reason for the dollar’s weakness has been concern about the independence of Federal Reserve. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s refusal to rule out a criminal investigation into Kevin Warsh has set off institutional jitters. The potential threat to Fed independence and policy credibility has been a pressure on the Greenback. Since the price of gold is denominated in dollars, any weakness in the currency is likely to boost the value of metal.
Meanwhile, strong and constant demand from the People’s Bank of China continues to support the metal’s long-term outlook. In January, the PBOC added to its gold reserves for the 15th consecutive month, to 74.19 million ounces. This build-up is a sign of strategic diversification from dollar-based reserves. China is the largest consumer of gold in the world, such moves provide a good demand floor, adding to the bullish story.

Gold Technical Analysis
The daily chart for spot gold shows that the price has found strong support around the 50-day SMA. This support also intersects with support for ascending broadening wedge pattern. Therefore, this region is a strong key in the gold market. The emergence of a bullish hammer at this support region indicates continued upside potential. However, the price must break $5,090 to initiate the next move higher.

The 4-hour chart for spot gold also shows the formation of strong support at $4,400, which is shown by the red shaded area in the chart below. The recovery from this support and the formation of bullish price action indicate continued upside for the next few days. However, a break above $5,090 is required to maintain bullish momentum in gold. Moreover, the RSI is rebounding from the oversold level, which increases the possibility of upside breakout.

Silver Technical Analysis
The daily chart for spot silver (XAG) also shows emergence of the bullish hammer at the major support of $64. This bullish candle indicates continued upside in silver toward $100. However, a break above $100 will indicate further upside for the next few days. A strong drop from $120 and then the emergence of a bullish hammer at major support indicate that this correction in silver is a healthy sign.
The 4-hour chart for spot silver shows a strong recovery from strong support of $60 to $70. This recovery indicates that silver will likely continue higher. The strong resistance remains at the $100 level.

Bottom Line
Gold and silver continue to show strength after recent corrections supported by good technical support in place. Gold’s move to $5,000 has been sustained by a weak US dollar, continued central bank accumulation and rising uncertainty about the independence of the Fed. These forces have helped to decrease volatility and enable gold to bounce back from critical support of $4,400.

From technical perspective, gold charts are pointing to bullish setup, but it takes a decisive break above $5,090 to trigger the next leg higher. Meanwhile, silver has also rebounded from that $60-$70 region with bullish hammer formations confirming strength at support. A break above $100 is still the key trigger for the next rally phase of silver.
#Silver #bitcoin #coinquestfamily #Binance #CZ

Silver’s sharp drop from $120 to $64 marks a healthy reset, not a reversal, as rising safe-haven demand, COMEX delivery pressures, and major breakout signals across key ratios point to a bullish continuation.
Silver ($XAG ) experiences renewed volatility, but the overall trend remains bullish. After surging to $120, prices sharply corrected to $64 which caused concern throughout the market. However this pullback was due to the historical overbought conditions within the strong bullish trend. This article presents the macro catalysts, technical structure and key intermarket signals driving the next move in silver.
Macro Forces Driving the Silver Surge
Safe-Haven Demand Rises as Risk-Off Returns
Silver price is showing strength as risk sentiment is shifting globally. The increase in geopolitical tensions and current US diplomatic frictions has triggered clear wave of risk aversion. Investors are moving out of risk assets and into safe haven plays. Gold spearheads this shift, but silver is gaining strong inflows as an alternative hedge.
Market participants are allocating more capital to precious metals as volatility increases. The recent breakdown in Bitcoin (BTC) below $70,000 confirms that risk off is back. This indicates appetite for hard assets. Silver’s dual role as an industrial metal and safe-haven asset makes it attractive in this environment.
COMEX Delivery Pressure Builds
One of the main triggers that makes silver stand out at the present time is the increased threat of physical delivery crunch at COMEX. The registered reserves have dropped to only 103 million ounces and open interest is 429 million. A system strains when a quarter of these contracts require delivery.
The threat of default in delivery is not only theoretical. March is already a challenge and pressure can be repeated in May or July. The limited supply on the background of increasing demand triggers a burst of silver moves. This is a key driver that should be monitored.
Conditions Remain Loose, But Risk Is Rising
The chart below shows that Chicago Fed National Financial Conditions Index is loose at -0.557. However, the risk behavior is shifting.
Meanwhile, the sales of heavy trucks are further undermined. The sharp decline in past six months shows that the actual economy is decelerating.
Increasing apprehension in financial markets adds to these indications. A combination of easy monetary policy and tight supply along with increasing new demand for safe-haven assets makes a compelling case for rising prices. The macro drivers are in place, and momentum is gaining.
Silver Technical Outlook Remains Bullish After Correction
The silver price marked a high of $120 and dropped to $64. As previously discussed, this drop was expected due to emerging factors seen in the chart below.
The chart shows a similar move in 1979 and 1980, where RSI was peaking above 90. Similarly, the RSI reached same levels in 2026, whereby prices were extremely overbought in the short term and long term. These overbought conditions required a significant correction. The drop from $120 has taken RSI to 81.23, but this still does not satisfy the current conditions.
However, the strong bullish breakout above $50 indicates a strong bullish foundation. Therefore any correction toward $50 to $60 may indicate another rally.
The weekly chart below shows that the price peaked at $120, which was extremely overbought and extended level above the ascending broadening wedge pattern. This extension initiated strong recovery back toward the support of ascending broadening wedge pattern at $64.

The strong surge in silver prices was carried out after the breakout from ascending channel pattern at $50. Therefore, this correction now has strong support around $50 to $60. Last week’s correction to $64 indicates bullish strength and continuation of upward momentum in silver prices.
Based on current price action, the recent drop in silver from $120 does not show the initiation of a negative trend. However, this is a healthy correction and indicates another surge in silver in latter part of 2026.
Key Intermarket Trends Backing Silver’s Surge
Silver-to-CPI Ratio Breaks 40-Year Downtrend
The chart below shows that the silver to CPI ratio shows massive breakout from a 40-year downtrend. Silver formed a cup and handle pattern. The cup was formed from 1980 to 2011, while the handle was formed from 2011 to 2025. This pattern represents an accumulation for several decades. The breakout in 2025 came after silver finally broke through the line of resistance which capped price ratios since 1980.
This breakout indicates a change in the real value of silver as compared with inflation. This move suggests that silver is now moving into a new phase of long-term outperformance. Historically, such breakouts result in multi-year rallies, particularly if this is combined with supply pressure and increasing demand.
Silver-to-Gold Ratio Forms Double Bottom Recovery
The strength in silver is also observed using silver to gold (XAU) ratio, which shows a strong recovery from long‑term support area not seen since 1992. This strong recovery has produced a double bottom pattern, whereby the ratio is approaching the resistance of downtrend line.
After reaching this resistance, the ratio initiated a correction back to 0.015, which is the red dotted support line. This correction is related to the correction in silver from $120 to $60. This indicates that the ratio is likely to trend higher, which signals continued strength in silver. However, a break above 0.02 in this ratio will indicate strong leadership in the silver rally and suggest continuation over the next few months.
In Closing: Silver Correction Sets the Stage for the Next Rally
The recent correction in silver from $120 to $64 reflects a reset after extreme overbought conditions. Macro conditions support higher prices and safe-haven demand is rising. Moreover, the physical delivery pressure is growing, and financial conditions remain loose.
Silver has also broken major technical ratios against CPI and gold, showing strength not seen in decades. This confirms a long term shift in silver’s value. The support zone between $50 and $60 remains critical. A rally from this support zone could lead to another breakout later in 2026.
#Silver #GOLD #WhaleDeRiskETH #GoldSilverRally #bitcoin