Reports said that South Korea’s Bithumb platform secured an initial win in two lawsuits filed against users who sold bitcoin that was mistakenly deposited into their accounts, then refused to return the proceeds.
According to the report, the Seoul Central District Court issued two rulings in favor of the platform on Wednesday and Thursday in two of four lawsuits involving the recovery of funds resulting from the mistakenly deposited bitcoin sale. One case involved a claim of 194 million won, or about $140,000, while the other related to 5 million won, or about $3,600.
Two other lawsuits are still under review, with values of about 14.8 million won—around $10,700—and 500 million won—about $362,000.
The report said the four cases were carried out through public notice after the court documents could not be served on the defendants through the usual methods.
Error background
The case traces back to an error that occurred in February during a promotional event where Bithumb planned to distribute 620,000 won, or roughly $420 at the time, as rewards to 249 users. But one employee chose Bitcoin instead of the Korean won as the payment unit, resulting in 620,000 BTC being deposited into customer accounts.
The platform later said it recovered 618,212 BTC—99.7% of the amount deposited by mistake. However, some users had already sold 1,788 BTC from the deposited balances before the platform froze the affected accounts.
What did Bithumb seek?
In March, Bithumb filed four claims of unjust enrichment against users who sold the Bitcoin deposited by mistake and did not return the proceeds. According to the report, the company sought repayment of the cash proceeds from those sales, not the Bitcoin itself.
The latest preliminary rulings are an important step in the platform’s efforts to recover funds related to the mistake, but they do not end all disputes tied to the case, as two other lawsuits remain pending.
Broader regulatory fallout
The case also drew attention from regulators in South Korea. The Financial Supervisory Service opened an investigation into the February error, focusing on how the platform was able to deposit Bitcoin it did not own into customers’ accounts. Reports said the regulator sent an inspection opinion in early August, meaning punishment proceedings would begin officially, without any final penalty announced so far.
This year, Bithumb also faced another legal scrutiny, including a June raid on its offices as part of a separate investigation into alleged preferential treatment in hiring. In addition, it challenged a partial six-month business suspension over anti–money laundering violations; a Seoul court lifted that suspension in April pending a decision on the appeal.
The case highlights how sensitive attribution and ownership issues are on trading platforms, and the importance of internal controls when handling digital assets and customer balances.