A Seoul court ordered a Bithumb user to repay roughly 194 million won ($140,513) in proceeds from bitcoin the exchange mistakenly credited in February. The ruling marks Bithumb's second win among four related lawsuits stemming from a staff error that briefly credited 620,000 BTC to hundreds of accounts.
The Seoul Central District Court ordered a Bithumb user to return roughly 194 million won ($140,513) in bitcoin sale proceeds the exchange mistakenly credited to their account on Thursday, The Block reported, citing a Digital Asset report. The case is the second-largest of the four related civil suits Bithumb filed in March.
A day earlier, a smaller win
The Thursday ruling followed an earlier win a day before, when the same court ordered a different user to repay 5 million won ($3,600) in a separate claim, Cointelegraph reported. Two further claims remain pending, seeking 14.8 million won ($10,700) and 500 million won ($362,000), and both decided cases proceeded through service by public notice because court documents could not be delivered to the defendants through ordinary methods.
The error behind the lawsuits
In February, Bithumb accidentally credited 620,000 BTC — then worth around $43 billion — internally to hundreds of users during a promotional campaign giveaway, after a staff member entered the reward unit as BTC instead of Korean won. The exchange later recovered 618,212 BTC, or 99.7% of the mistakenly credited total, though some users had already sold 1,788 BTC before Bithumb froze the affected accounts. The mistaken credits briefly pushed the BTC-KRW pair on Bithumb's platform down about 15% and prompted South Korean authorities to open an investigation into the exchange's internal controls and risk management.
Regulatory scrutiny continues
South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service sent Bithumb an inspection opinion in early August, formally starting sanctions proceedings, though no final penalty has been announced. The exchange is also fighting a separate six-month business suspension over anti-money laundering violations. A Seoul court stayed that suspension in April, pending Bithumb's appeal. Bithumb also announced earlier this month that it is targeting an initial public offering in 2028.
Sources: The Block, Cointelegraph
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