South Korea's central bank has urged cryptocurrency exchanges to adopt circuit breakers after a costly employee error at Bithumb triggered market chaos.
Bithumb Bitcoin Blunder Prompts Central Bank Call for Crypto Safeguards
13 April 2026 - 14:18 CEST
By Sandmark staff
The Bank of Korea made the call in its annual payment and settlement report released on 13 Apr. It cited the February incident at one of the country's largest platforms as evidence of weak safeguards.
Bithumb had intended to distribute Bitcoin prizes worth about 620,000 won ($460) for a customer event, but owing to an input error, it sent 620,000 bitcoins instead, valued at roughly $60bn.
Users quickly sold the wrongly credited coins, causing Bitcoin prices on the platform to plunge sharply. Panic selling and automated orders led to losses for others, while some bitcoin-backed loans faced forced liquidations.
"The primary cause was the lack of internal control systems designed to prevent such operational risks," the Bank of Korea said. It noted crypto firms generally have weaker controls and lower regulatory standards than traditional financial institutions.
Circuit breakers, used on traditional exchanges like the Korea Exchange, temporarily halt trading during abnormal large-volume orders or sharp price swings to allow verification and curb losses.
