South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb announced on Saturday that it had accidentally distributed more than $40 billion worth of bitcoins to customers as part of a promotional reward, causing a sharp selloff on the exchange.

The exchange quickly apologized for the error, which occurred on Friday, and reported that it had successfully recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 bitcoins, valued at around $44 billion at current prices. In response, Bithumb restricted trading and withdrawals for the 695 affected customers within 35 minutes of the erroneous distribution.

This incident has raised questions about the operational risks and security measures at cryptocurrency exchanges, especially those offering large-scale promotions.

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