Bithumb wins 194M won Bitcoin recovery lawsuit

[coinrifft]

Bithumb won the first ruling in four civil lawsuits seeking to recover proceeds from Bitcoin mistakenly credited to customers during a February promotional event.

https://crypto.news/bithumb-wins-194m-won-bitcoin-recovery-lawsuit/

To refresh everyone, Bithumb last Feb 2026 accidentally sent big amount of Bitcoin to some of their customers. It was a big mistake on their part, however, some of their customers who received it immediately sold their Bitcoins and did take the money.

And this is what the lawsuit is all about. In summary:

• Bithumb won a first-instance order requiring repayment of approximately 194 million won in mistaken proceeds.
• The August 27 judgment was the first ruling among four separately filed civil recovery lawsuits.
• Bithumb accidentally credited 620,000 BTC internally while intending to distribute 620,000 won total in rewards.
• Claims against four defendants total 714 million won, based on amounts reported by Digital Asset.
• South Korean regulators ordered five-minute ledger reconciliations and stronger controls following the February operational failure.

I guess it's the right decision by the court for those that they need to return the money because it was a mistake.

And for the person who got the Bitcoin and sell it immediately, we all know what you did here.

[Muskanrani]

Bithumb is a famous exchange of South Korea In February 2026 during an promotional event 620,000 Korean Won was intended to transfer users but due to the mistake of employee of Bithumb exchange he was transfer 620,000 Bitcoins to users account when the exchnage realize his mistake in between 35 to 40 minutes they freez all the accounts where Bitcoins was transfer and they recover almost 99% of Bitcoins but four users sale the Bitcoins and take out money in cash whose value in dollars is almost 140,000 USD for the recovery of this money Bithumb exchange file four different cases in court from which Bithumb exchange was already won a small case and before two days on 27 August they win  one of the main case in which court said that the four users who exchanges Bitcoins and withdraw money from accounts they will return the money to this exchange court said that the money will transfer due to a mistake so these four users have no right to keep this money legally after this mistake South Korea Financial Regulation strict all exchanges so the mistake will not repeat again .

[Nwada001]

That’s a right decision made by the court; it’s a legal exchange operating in the country, so I don’t see any right that those 4 defendants have to claim the amount that was wrongfully sent to their balance, even if the exchange is running an airdrop, it will always be on their token as a means to promote it and not Bitcoin, especially not that amount.

I guess it's the right decision by the court for those that they need to return the money because it was a mistake.

And for the person who got the Bitcoin and sell it immediately, we all know what you did here.

I noticed from the article that the court awarded an amount higher than the 714 won, which was initially said to have been claimed by customers. "Ordered the defendant to return approximately 194 million won as unjust enrichment." Is the extra amount added based on the difference of Bitcoin value from then or as part of compensation?

[internetional]

To refresh everyone, Bithumb last Feb 2026 accidentally sent big amount of Bitcoin to some of their customers. It was a big mistake on their part, however, some of their customers who received it immediately sold their Bitcoins and did take the money.

What interests me more in this story is something else. The person who bought the non-existent bitcoins ended up with Bithumb's obligation to deliver that amount of bitcoin on their balance sheet. And Bithumb most likely doesn't have them. Is it known what Bithumb did? Did it buy these bitcoins to be able to fulfill the obligations, or did it write off the "virtual" bitcoins from the balance of the bona fide purchaser?

[TastyChillySauce00]

To refresh everyone, Bithumb last Feb 2026 accidentally sent big amount of Bitcoin to some of their customers. It was a big mistake on their part, however, some of their customers who received it immediately sold their Bitcoins and did take the money.

What interests me more in this story is something else. The person who bought the non-existent bitcoins ended up with Bithumb's obligation to deliver that amount of bitcoin on their balance sheet. And Bithumb most likely doesn't have them. Is it known what Bithumb did? Did it buy these bitcoins to be able to fulfill the obligations, or did it write off the "virtual" bitcoins from the balance of the bona fide purchaser?

Since only small amount of user able to withdraw before the freezing, it wouldn't be that difficult for Bithumb to minimize the impact by covering the BTC from their own reserve. The amount of people who were able to withdraw the cash after they sold the Bitcoin was actually quite small, only 27 people and majority of them has returned the money. From the most recent update, only 4 actually getting sued. So when the lawsuit settled, they will bring the money back to the treasury again.