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Photo courtesy of Yonhap News |
[Alpha Biz= Kim Jisun] South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb is facing growing scrutiny after a bitcoin miscredit incident escalated into allegations that the platform may have allocated assets without sufficient underlying reserves.
According to Bithumb Korea’s quarterly report disclosed on Thursday via the DART, the exchange holds approximately 42,619 bitcoins in total, including customer deposits and proprietary assets. However, Bithumb reportedly distributed between 1,000 and 2,000 bitcoins per winner to hundreds of users during a promotional “random box” event, suggesting that the total amount mistakenly credited may have reached several hundred thousand bitcoins—far exceeding its disclosed holdings.
The incident has fueled concerns that Bithumb’s internal system may have allowed so-called “book-entry trading,” in which balances are adjusted digitally without real-time verification of actual asset custody. Some of the miscredited bitcoins were reportedly sold at market prices, briefly pushing Bithumb’s bitcoin price down to around KRW 81 million, with more than 800 bitcoins appearing in sell orders.
Under South Korea’s Virtual Asset User Protection Act, which took effect in July 2024, virtual asset service providers are required to strictly segregate customer assets and hold an equivalent amount of the same type of virtual assets. Critics argue the creation and circulation of assets far exceeding actual holdings could indicate a potential violation of these obligations.
Bithumb has temporarily shut down related services, including the promotional page linked to the incident, and suspended disclosure of certain market indicators while it works to recover assets and freeze affected accounts. The exchange has yet to issue a formal public statement or apology, saying only that it is “verifying the situation.”
Alphabiz Reporter Kim Jisun(stockmk2020@alphabiz.co.kr)
