Bithumb’s 620,000 BTC Error: User to Refund 194 Million Won

A court in Seoul has ordered a user who sold assets credited to their account as Bitcoin due to a Bithumb promotional error to refund approximately 194 million won in proceeds.

The Seoul Central District Court in South Korea ruled in favor of the exchange in a lawsuit filed by Bithumb against the user who sold the erroneously credited Bitcoins. According to information reported by Digital Asset, the user will be required to return approximately 194 million Korean won ($140,513) earned from the sale to Bithumb. This decision marks the exchange’s second victory in four civil lawsuits related to the incident.

The incident occurred during a promotion held in February. Bithumb credited a total of 620,000 BTC to the accounts of hundreds of users. However, this figure does not represent an actual Bitcoin transfer or the refund amount in the lawsuit. The error was caused by selecting BTC when the reward unit should have been entered as Korean won instead of Bitcoin.

Bithumb Wins Second of Four Lawsuits

The court’s refund order applies only to the user involved in this specific case. The approximately 194 million won lawsuit was recorded as the second-largest among the four cases filed by Bithumb. The value of the largest case stands at 500 million won ($362,229).

The erroneous credit also led to a sharp, short-term movement in the Bitcoin-won trading pair on the exchange. The BTC-KRW parity dropped by approximately 15%, affecting a wider group of users. South Korean authorities have launched an investigation into Bithumb’s internal control and risk management processes.

Bithumb also announced this month that it targets an IPO in 2028.