{"id":2945,"date":"2026-04-07T10:07:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:07:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/?p=2945"},"modified":"2026-04-07T10:07:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:07:49","slug":"bithumb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/bithumb\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korea Tightens Crypto Rules After $40B Bithumb Glitch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"gb-block-image gb-block-image-3a6cc9ef\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" class=\"gb-image gb-image-3a6cc9ef\" src=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-2026-04-07T193555.914.webp\" alt=\"South Korea Tightens Crypto Rules After $40B Bithumb Glitch\" title=\"Untitled design - 2026-04-07T193555.914\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-2026-04-07T193555.914.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-2026-04-07T193555.914-300x157.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-2026-04-07T193555.914-768x402.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>South Korea is moving fast to tighten oversight of its crypto market after a massive error at <a href=\"https:\/\/bithumbcorp.com\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bithumb <\/a>exposed serious gaps in exchange systems. The country\u2019s top financial regulator has now introduced strict new rules aimed at preventing similar incidents in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Financial Services Commission (FSC) has ordered all domestic crypto exchanges to carry out automated balance checks every five minutes. These checks must compare internal user balances with actual crypto holdings stored in exchange wallets. The rule is set to take effect by the end of May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This decision follows a major mishap earlier this year, when Bithumb accidentally distributed around $40 billion worth of Bitcoin due to a simple input error. During a February promotion, staff mistakenly entered \u201cBitcoin\u201d instead of Korean won, sending 2,000 BTC to each user instead of a small cash reward. The error created a mismatch of roughly 62 trillion won (about $39.9 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Regulators later found that several major exchanges were still relying on balance checks done only once every 24 hours. According to officials, this delay left users exposed to potential risks, as discrepancies could go unnoticed for long periods. The FSC said the new five-minute system is designed to detect and respond to issues almost instantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To strengthen safety, exchanges must now also introduce automatic \u201ckill switches.\u201d These systems will halt trading immediately if large mismatches are detected between records and actual holdings. Previously, many platforms either lacked such safeguards or relied on manual intervention, which slowed response times during critical situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">In addition, the FSC is tightening audit requirements. Exchanges will now undergo external audits every month instead of quarterly reviews. They will also need to provide detailed disclosures, including the exact amount of crypto assets held in each wallet, rather than offering a simple overall coverage ratio.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The new framework also focuses on reducing operational risks. High-risk accounts and manual payout systems must be separated, with large transactions requiring multi-level approvals and third-party verification. These steps are intended to minimize both internal errors and potential misuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bithumb has already taken steps to recover from the incident. The exchange froze affected accounts within about 20 minutes and promised full restoration of user balances. It also pledged 110% compensation for users who sold assets during the panic caused by the glitch. The company admitted it failed to maintain the \u201cstability and integrity\u201d expected of crypto platforms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking ahead, South Korean regulators believe these measures could serve as a global model for crypto market reforms. As scrutiny increases, exchanges may need to adopt systems that resemble traditional banking standards\u2014marking a significant shift in how the crypto industry operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read :<a href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/toss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> Toss Eyes Blockchain and Token in Korea\u2019s Crypto Reset<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>South Korea is moving fast to tighten oversight of its crypto market after a massive error at Bithumb exposed serious &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"South Korea Tightens Crypto Rules After $40B Bithumb Glitch\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/bithumb\/#more-2945\" aria-label=\"Read more about South Korea Tightens Crypto Rules After $40B Bithumb Glitch\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2946,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6891,6896,6887,6893,6894,6901,6888,6885,6902,6892,6897,6900,6895,6898,6904,6899,6903,6889,6886,6890],"class_list":["post-2945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-automated-reconciliation-crypto-exchanges-explained","tag-bitcoin-accidental-distribution-bithumb-case-study","tag-bithumb-40-billion-bitcoin-error-news","tag-bithumb-compensation-110-percent-user-losses","tag-bithumb-payout-glitch-explained-2026","tag-centralized-crypto-exchange-regulations-south-korea","tag-crypto-exchange-audit-rules-monthly-south-korea","tag-crypto-exchange-balance-reconciliation-rules-korea","tag-crypto-exchange-transparency-rules-asset-disclosure","tag-crypto-platform-safeguards-ai-monitoring-transactions","tag-crypto-risk-management-kill-switch-exchanges","tag-crypto-trading-safety-rules-real-time-checks","tag-crypto-wallet-balance-verification-system-exchanges","tag-fsc-crypto-regulations-south-korea-exchanges","tag-how-regulators-prevent-crypto-exchange-errors","tag-impact-of-bithumb-error-on-crypto-regulations","tag-real-time-crypto-auditing-system-five-minute-checks","tag-south-korea-crypto-compliance-reforms-2026","tag-south-korea-crypto-regulation-update-2026","tag-south-korea-tightening-crypto-exchange-security-measures","resize-featured-image"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Untitled-design-2026-04-07T193555.914.webp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2947,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2945\/revisions\/2947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.decentralnetwork.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<!-- This website is optimized by Airlift. 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