Accidental 2,000 BTC Airdrop Crashes Bitcoin Price 10% on Bithumb
South Korea’s cryptocurrency change Bithumb confronted a significant operational mishap on February 6, 2026, which shortly despatched the BTC/KRW buying and selling pair down by double digits.
It brings to thoughts previous controversies concerning the change, together with incidents of partial legal responsibility in knowledge leaks.
Bithumb’s Accidental 2,000 BTC Airdrop Sparks 10% Bitcoin Crash on Exchange
Reportedly, a workers member unintentionally despatched 2,000 Bitcoin (BTC) to lots of of customers as an alternative of the meant 2,000 Korean Won (KRW) reward.
The error triggered an instantaneous wave of sell-offs, sending Bitcoin’s price on the change greater than 10% under world market charges.
Dumpster DAO core member Definalist first reported the incident, citing a routine airdrop meant as a small incentive for platform customers.
Amidst the chaos, some customers reportedly benefited considerably from the error, promoting their surprising Bitcoin windfall at market costs.
The unintended BTC distribution has raised questions on inside controls and threat administration at crypto exchanges, notably these dealing with high-value digital belongings.
“Crazy to assume that exchanges can nonetheless do paper buying and selling like this, even in 2026 lmao,” remarked Definalist.
Notably, nonetheless, the Bitcoin worth crash was largely confined to Bithumb as a result of change’s isolated order book. Users offered huge quantities of BTC immediately on Bithumb, overwhelming its liquidity and inflicting a ten% native drop.
Other exchanges remained unaffected as a result of the promoting stress didn’t enter their markets, and world arbitrage mechanisms hadn’t but adjusted the discrepancy, conserving the affect largely contained.
Notwithstanding, the incident highlights the operational dangers that may persist even in main exchanges, regardless of years of trade maturation. It additionally exhibits how a easy enter error can cascade into substantial market disruption.
Bithumb didn’t instantly reply to BeInCrypto’s request for remark and has not but launched an official public assertion on corrective measures.
Still, the occasion might affect market confidence within the brief time period, notably on exchanges the place operational errors have fast worth penalties.
Bithumb’s Operational History and Corporate Changes Highlight Ongoing Risks
Bithumb itself has a checkered historical past with safety and operational points. In 2017, a data breach uncovered buyer info, and in a 2020 ruling, native media reported that the change was discovered partially liable in a single case by which a consumer misplaced $27,200.
The courtroom dominated that, though Bithumb’s database had been accessed, the claimants ought to have recognized the scam makes an attempt and awarded solely $5,000 in damages.
Other claims have been dismissed as a result of the courtroom discovered the non-public info might have been obtained elsewhere.
Bithumb has additionally undergone important company modifications in recent times. In 2018, the change offered a 50% stake to BK Global Consortium, a bunch led by startup investor Kim Byung-gun, who was already the corporate’s fifth-largest shareholder.
This acquisition got here amid a broader contraction within the crypto sector funding. According to FinTech Global research, world crypto investments peaked at $7.62 billion in 2018 earlier than falling to $3.11 billion in 2019. In the primary half of 2020 alone, the sector raised simply $578.2 million.
This newest mishap provides to Bithumb’s lengthy historical past of operational challenges, reinforcing the view that whereas crypto adoption is rising, the sector stays susceptible to human and technical errors, even in main exchanges.
The put up Accidental 2,000 BTC Airdrop Crashes Bitcoin Price 10% on Bithumb appeared first on BeInCrypto.
