Bithumb's $40 Billion Bitcoin Blunder - What Every Crypto Investor Must Know

South Korea's 2nd largest exchange Bithumb accidentally sent 620,000 BTC (~$40B) to 695 users instead of ~$1.40 each in Korean won.

An employee entered the reward as "Bitcoin" instead of "Korean Won." Within 20 minutes, some users received 2,000+ BTC each, worth over $120M per person.

What happened next:

→ $BTC price on Bithumb crashed 17% instantly

→ ~1,786 BTC Sold before accounts were frozen

→ 99.7% of ghost Bitcoin recovered

→ CEO admitted system failures at parliamentary hearing

The Real Problem?

Bithumb held only ~42,000 BTC but distributed 620,000 BTC using their internal ledger. These "phantom coins" never existed on-chain.

This proves centralized exchanges can credit your account with crypto they don't actually hold.

Key Takeaways:

1️⃣ CEX balances are just numbers on a database, not real on-chain Bitcoin

2️⃣ Self-custody remains the safest option

3️⃣ South Korea launching major regulatory investigations

4️⃣ Users who Sold Phantom BTC must return profits or face legal action

Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins.

This is one of the biggest exchange errors in crypto history and a wake-up call for the entire industry.

Stay safe. Stay informed.