Bithumb's Massive Bitcoin Blunder: A Cautionary Tale

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max_bridgeSenior Member
Posts: 9 · Reputation: 1492
#1Jun 19, 2021, 07:07 PM
Just saw the news about Bithumb accidentally sending out 2000 BTC instead of a small reward. Like, how does that even happen? Now they're trying to recover it but it sounds messy since some people already sold off their BTC.
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cobra42Full Member
Posts: 93 · Reputation: 617
#2Jun 21, 2021, 01:42 PM
Wow, really strange mistake. How can their system not tell the difference between ₩ and BTC? Just shows exchanges aren't the safest for holding our crypto. They can screw up big time...
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maxi100Newbie
Posts: 114 · Reputation: 26
#3Jun 21, 2021, 04:49 PM
Actually, it seems it was just a mix-up in an airdrop. Receivers may sell the coins but good luck actually withdrawing anything. Bithumb is probably gonna freeze accounts as they realize what happened.
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ledger_2013Senior Member
Posts: 46 · Reputation: 866
#4Jun 21, 2021, 07:44 PM
Just to clarify, it was a glitch, and they froze accounts within about 35 minutes to stop the chaos. They did manage to get back 99.7% of the funds. Just proves why we should keep our assets off exchanges.
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Posts: 83 · Reputation: 175
#5Jun 22, 2021, 12:34 AM
Mistakes happen, but this was a human error, nothing to do with their security. These kinds of things aren’t new; even cashiers mess up sometimes. Anyway, they should recover most because KYC is in place. Some users could face legal action, though.
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paul51Newbie
Posts: 36 · Reputation: 10
#6Jun 23, 2021, 07:31 AM
@Saltysugar99 I can’t believe you fell for that $40bn figure lol. 99.7% recovered means they acted quickly. Just another reminder that funds on exchanges aren't really yours. Always something can go wrong.
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#7Jun 23, 2021, 11:05 AM
At least they got back most of the funds. It could’ve been worse. But people still leave funds on exchanges after all this drama, like they don’t learn from past issues.
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guru_2014Newbie
Posts: 72 · Reputation: 28
#8Jun 23, 2021, 04:17 PM
This whole thing shows why exchanges need better verification before sending that much crypto. But how do we know it was a genuine error? Tracing those coins could get innocent people in trouble.
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yield_2021Full Member
Posts: 79 · Reputation: 550
#9Jun 23, 2021, 05:47 PM
Exactly, the exchange isn’t just giving away BTC as a bonus. If that happens, you know they’ll freeze accounts to stop users from cashing out. Can’t trust exchanges fully, gotta protect your assets.
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tom51Full Member
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#10Jun 23, 2021, 07:25 PM
But if they recovered 99.7%, then why did the remaining small percent affect the market so much? Selling a few coins shouldn’t bring everything down like that. Guess it shows how fragile these exchanges can be.
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#11Jun 23, 2021, 08:02 PM
IDK if anyone got funds out, but with Bithumb’s process, it’s not easy to withdraw big amounts fast. They know who withdrew funds and can limit it. You can’t just run with that cash.
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Posts: 252 · Reputation: 12
#12Jun 24, 2021, 02:56 PM
The quoted info makes it hard to swallow; saying 'each customer' got 2000 BTC sounds off. It was really just a few for a giveaway. This whole incident is just a reminder that centralized exchanges have serious flaws.
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lynx1337Newbie
Posts: 211 · Reputation: 15
#13Jun 24, 2021, 04:37 PM
Blame the exchange for poor management. A huge amount like that should need multiple approvals before going out. In banks, they have multi-layer checks. Human error can happen, but there should've been more verification.
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nick.chadSenior Member
Posts: 41 · Reputation: 1258
#14Jun 25, 2021, 07:17 AM
Kinda feel like this is a management failure. They need more checks, especially on data entry back there. It shouldn’t just be one person clicking away.
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0xDefiFull Member
Posts: 133 · Reputation: 317
#15Jun 25, 2021, 01:08 PM
These situations make me think about trust in the crypto space. Bitcoin works fine, but centralized exchanges mess it up. People still slap the blame on Bitcoin instead of the exchange failing.
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max365Newbie
Posts: 234 · Reputation: 20
#16Jun 25, 2021, 01:23 PM
Exchanges handle errors pretty well. They got back a ton, and customer compensation means almost zero loss for them. Pretty savvy of them.
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sigma_nodeSenior Member
Posts: 94 · Reputation: 1851
#17Jun 25, 2021, 05:32 PM
But we gotta ask, was it a staff error or a tech issue? If they can mess up like this, what about security risks? Scary to keep assets on these platforms.
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CalmMinerFull Member
Posts: 554 · Reputation: 784
#18Jun 25, 2021, 09:15 PM
Dude, 2000 BTC is no joke, that's a lot of people’s money. I get it that they have some share, but we gotta be careful leaving cash on exchanges.
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planktonHero Member
Posts: 1284 · Reputation: 2049
#19Jun 25, 2021, 11:05 PM
Guys, there are more threads about this. We don’t need another one. Let’s focus on the lessons and avoid repeating mistakes.
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maxi100Newbie
Posts: 114 · Reputation: 26
#20Jun 26, 2021, 04:50 AM
Ultimately, it’s their funds, not ours. They messed up with the airdrop but since it’s not real transfers, they didn’t lose BTC. Reminder: don’t keep your crypto in online wallets. Go for cold storage.
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