Single Bithumb Staffer Issues 60 Trillion Won; CEO Lee Jae-won Pledges Broad Relief for Victims of Erroneous Coin Payouts via Complaint Filings
Single Bithumb Staffer Issues 60 Trillion Won; CEO Lee Jae-won Pledges Broad Relief for Victims of Erroneous Coin Payouts via Complaint Filings
Bithumb CEO Lee Jae-won said losses caused by panic selling and forced liquidations stemming from the erroneous payment of bitcoin worth 60 trillion won would be eligible for compensation, adding that the scope of relief would be further expanded through a financial authority inspection and customer complaints.
Speaking at a National Assembly Political Affairs Committee inquiry on Feb. 11, Lee said, “As the person ultimately responsible for this incident, I apologize to the public who must have been greatly distressed by the mistaken event payment.”
He added, “We are painfully aware of shortcomings in our internal controls in detecting and responding to the increase in ledger balances while the coins were mistakenly credited.”
Regarding the damage assessment and scope of compensation, Lee said, “We consider panic selling at the time 1,788 bitcoins were sold and the resulting forced liquidations experienced by about 30 individuals as eligible for relief.”
He continued, “We will establish and complete a broader scope of relief for victims through the Financial Supervisory Service’s inspection and various complaints being received through our customer center.”
Lee acknowledged that the employee responsible for the mistaken payment was a deputy-level staff member and admitted that internal controls, including a multi-step approval process for event prize payments, were insufficient.
“This occurred while upgrading and transitioning to a new operating system, and those safeguards were omitted in the process,” he said.
He also stated that discussions would be held on developing technology to shorten the current daily reconciliation cycle between internal ledgers and actual coin holdings.
Lee added, “We will fully establish the regulatory, supervisory, and internal control requirements comparable to those applied to financial service providers.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Min Byeong-deok of the Democratic Party of Korea’s Digital Asset Task Force criticized the incident during the session, saying, “The structure effectively allowed a single deputy-level employee to issue 60 trillion won,” and “It is a case where internal control completely collapsed, as assets that were not even held could be created on the books.”
It was also revealed that Bithumb had experienced two additional erroneous payment incidents.
Disclaimer: This article is a translated summary of a news report and is provided for informational purposes only.
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