On February 6, 2026, South Korean exchange Bithumb accidentally transferred a massive amount of Bitcoin to users during a promotional event. Instead of small cash rewards, an internal error led to about 695 users receiving approximately 2,000 BTC each, totaling 620,000 BTC (over $40 billion). This caused a brief 17% price drop for Bitcoin on Bithumb as recipients sold off the unexpected funds.
Bithumb quickly froze affected accounts and recovered 99.7% of the mistakenly sent Bitcoin within 35 minutes. The exchange stated it was an operational error, not a hack, and pledged to cover any losses and compensate users. #BTC