Bithumb Wins Two Lawsuits Over Mistaken Bitcoin Credits

South Korean exchange Bithumb has secured first‑instance court rulings in two of four lawsuits it filed to recover proceeds from Bitcoin mistakenly credited to user accounts.

Court rulings

The Seoul Central District Court ruled in Bithumb’s favor on Wednesday and Thursday. The Thursday decision covered a claim of 194 million won (about $140,000), while the Wednesday ruling addressed a claim of 5 million won (about $3,600). Two additional lawsuits—seeking roughly 14.8 million won ($10,700) and 500 million won ($362,000)—remain pending.

Background of the error

On February 6, 2026, Bithumb intended to distribute 620,000 won (approximately $420) in rewards to 249 users during a promotional event. An employee mistakenly selected Bitcoin as the payment unit, resulting in the credit of 620,000 BTC—valued at over $40 billion at the time—to the affected accounts.

The exchange later reported that it had recovered 618,212 BTC (99.7 % of the erroneous amount). However, some users had already sold 1,788 BTC before the accounts were frozen.

Legal strategy

Bithumb filed four unjust‑enrichment lawsuits in March, seeking cash proceeds from the sales rather than the Bitcoin itself. The two recent rulings advance the exchange’s effort to reclaim those funds.

Regulatory scrutiny

South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) opened a sanctions process in early August, investigating how Bithumb could credit customers with Bitcoin it did not hold. No final penalty has been announced.

Separately, Bithumb has faced police raids over alleged hiring favoritism and is contesting a six‑month partial business suspension for alleged anti‑money‑laundering violations.