Bithumb Wins First-Instance Rulings Over $40B Bitcoin Error

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb has reportedly won first-instance rulings in two lawsuits against its users to recover proceeds from Bitcoin it mistakenly credited to their accounts.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled for Bithumb on Wednesday and Thursday in two of four lawsuits against users who sold Bitcoin mistakenly credited to their accounts, according to a Chosun Biz report.

Thursday’s ruling concerned a claim for 194 million won ($140,000), while Wednesday’s covered a claim for 5 million won ($3,600). Two other lawsuits seeking about 14.8 million won ($10,700) and 500 million won ($362,000) remain pending.

Both cases proceeded through service by public notice because court documents could not be delivered to the defendants through ordinary methods, the report said.

The reported rulings advance Bithumb’s efforts to recover funds from its February error, when the exchange mistakenly credited 620,000 BTC, worth more than $40 billion at the time.

Bithumb goes after Bitcoin sale proceeds

Bithumb said the error occurred during a promotional event on Feb. 6, 2026, when it planned to distribute 620,000 won, or about $420 at the time, in rewards to 249 users. An employee mistakenly selected Bitcoin instead of Korean won as the payment unit and credited customer accounts with 620,000 BTC.

The exchange subsequently said it recovered 618,212 BTC, or 99.7% of the mistakenly credited amount. However, some users had already sold 1,788 BTC worth of the credited balances before Bithumb froze the affected accounts.

Related: Bithumb sets 2028 IPO timetable as it overhauls internal controls

Bithumb filed four unjust enrichment lawsuits in March against users who sold the mistakenly credited Bitcoin and did not return the proceeds. The company was reportedly seeking cash from those sales rather than Bitcoin.

FSS begins sanctions process over Bithumb error

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) investigated Bithumb over the Feb. 6 Bitcoin error, focusing on how the exchange could credit customers with Bitcoin it did not hold. The regulator reportedly sent Bithumb an inspection opinion in early August, formally beginning sanctions proceedings, but no final penalty has been announced.

Cointelegraph approached South Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC), which oversees the FSS, for an update on the investigation and potential sanctions against Bithumb but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Bithumb has faced other legal scrutiny this year. South Korean police raided its offices in June as part of an unrelated investigation into alleged hiring favoritism involving lawmaker Kim Byung-ki, while the company is challenging a separate six-month partial business suspension over Anti-Money Laundering violations. A Seoul court stayed the suspension in April pending a ruling in Bithumb’s challenge.

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