Bithumb, a cryptocurrency exchange based in South Korea, issued an apology to its users after a monumental mistake resulted in the accidental transfer of over $40 billion in Bitcoin. The incident occurred due to a promotional campaign, during which the platform intended to send approximately 2,000 won (about $1.37) to each affected user. However, an error led Bithumb to mistakenly send approximately 2,000 Bitcoins to each of the users instead. This prompted a frenzy of selling on the platform as users reacted to the unexpected surge in their Bitcoin holdings, even if temporarily.

In response to the blunder, Bithumb reported that they managed to recover 99.7% of the mistakenly transferred Bitcoins, which amounted to over 620,000 coins. Trading and withdrawals were restricted for the 695 affected users within 35 minutes of the mistaken transfer to mitigate potential losses and chaos on the trading platform. The company acknowledged the distress caused to its users and took immediate action to rectify the situation, confirming that the incident was a result of a misunderstanding during the promotional distribution.

The incident comes at a tumultuous time for Bitcoin, which has seen a sharp decline in value this year, dropping to around $60,000 and wiping out significant gains made following Donald Trump’s victory in the recent U.S. presidential elections. As cryptocurrency markets remain volatile, this mistake highlights the potential for significant disturbances and confusion within these platforms, calling attention to the need for operational safeguards and more robust error handling measures in the ever-evolving crypto landscape.