Bithumb mistake sent BTC price to $55,000 on that exchange
CoinDesk
Bithumb's internal error mistakenly airdropped users 2,000 BTC, causing a flash crash to $55,000 on the exchange.Summary
Bitcoin experienced a flash crash to $55,000 on the South Korean exchange Bithumb due to a major internal accounting error. Bithumb mistakenly credited hundreds of users with 2,000 BTC each, instead of a small reward worth 2,000 Korean won (about $1.50). This resulted in tens of millions of dollars in phantom bitcoin balances appearing internally. Users attempted to sell these inflated balances, triggering a sharp 15.8% selloff in the BTC/KRW pair on Bithumb while prices remained stable elsewhere. Bithumb quickly identified the abnormal transactions, restricted trading in affected accounts, and normalized prices within about five minutes, confirming that no on-chain movement occurred and customer assets remained secure.
(Source：CoinDesk)