Bithumb Wins First Ruling in Bitcoin Windfall Recovery Lawsuit

Judge Kim Yu-seong of the Seoul Central District Court’s 90th Civil Division ruled that the recipient must return the funds as unjust enrichment. This decision stems from a February 6 incident where an employee accidentally selected Bitcoin as the payout currency for a 620,000 won reward event, triggering a massive, system-wide credit error. While the exchange locked accounts within 35 minutes, some users had already sold the assets, causing a temporary 17% price dip for Bitcoin on the platform.

Bithumb filed four separate civil lawsuits in March to recover approximately 714 million won in total. Although the exchange successfully clawed back over 99% of the mistaken credits through voluntary returns and account reversals, it pursued legal action for the remaining missing assets. The Aug. 27 ruling covers the second-largest of these claims; the court has yet to set schedules for the remaining three cases. South Korean regulators have since mandated stricter ledger controls and five-minute automated reconciliation intervals for all exchanges to prevent similar operational failures.