“The episode is not merely a technical mishap but a case that lays bare deeper structural weaknesses in the virtual asset market, including complacent supervision and gaps in regulation,” Rep. Kang Min-guk Kang said.
Another representative called out regulators for shifting blame to the exchange, “despite their supervisory role.”
The incident, which took place earlier this month, saw 695 individuals accidentally be credited with upwards of 2,000 Bitcoin—currently valued around $135 million—apiece instead of 2,000 Korean won (about $1.38) as part of a promotion.
Due to the size of the error, Korean regulators quickly sprung into action, noting that the incident revealed “fundamental weaknesses” and “regulatory blind spots” that must be remedied.
The FSS has been conducting a formal investigation into the matter, which was recently given an extended deadline until the end of the month, according to The Korea Times.
Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won indicated before the National Assembly that the firm had previously made two minor coin distribution errors in the past and later recovered the assets. Those events will also be investigated as part of the FSS probe, an official for the regulator told the local news outlet.
The firm ultimately provided a compensation plan for all users affected by the issue, paying around 20,000 won ($13.73) to any user who was logged in to the exchange during the time the error was committed. Additionally, it paid back users that had sold BTC at the artificially low price, and paid a 10% premium on top.
“We will never forget that the value of Bithumb's future growth lies solely in the trust of our customers,” Lee said in a blog post on February 8. “Bithumb will continue to protect our customers' assets with the utmost safety under any circumstances.”
Bitcoin, which is down around 46% from its all-time high of $126,080, is up 2.4% in the last 24 hours, recently changing hands around $67,752.
