Bithumb wins 2 suits over mistaken Bitcoin credits: Report

Bithumb wins 2 suits, securing initial court victories in two lawsuits aimed at recovering funds from Bitcoin that was erroneously deposited into user accounts. The Seoul Central District Court issued rulings in favor of Bithumb on Wednesday and Thursday. These cases are part of four lawsuits initiated by the exchange against users who sold the mistakenly credited Bitcoin.

The error occurred during a promotional event on February 6, 2026, when Bithumb intended to distribute 620,000 won, approximately $420 at the time, to 249 users. An employee inadvertently selected Bitcoin as the payment unit instead of Korean won, resulting in customer accounts being credited with 620,000 BTC.

Bithumb later stated that it had recovered 618,212 BTC, representing 99.7% of the total mistakenly credited amount. However, 1,788 BTC had already been sold by users before Bithumb froze the affected accounts. In March, Bithumb filed four unjust enrichment lawsuits to recover the cash proceeds from these sales, rather than the Bitcoin itself.

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) investigated Bithumb regarding the February 6 Bitcoin error, specifically examining how the exchange could credit customers with Bitcoin it did not possess. The FSS reportedly initiated sanctions proceedings against Bithumb in early August by sending an inspection opinion, though a final penalty has not yet been announced.

Bithumb has also encountered other legal challenges this year. Its offices were raided in June by South Korean police in connection with an unrelated investigation into alleged hiring favoritism. Furthermore, the company is contesting a separate six-month partial business suspension for Anti-Money Laundering violations, with a Seoul court having stayed the suspension in April pending a ruling on Bithumb’s challenge.