Bithumb wins court rulings over mistaken Bitcoin credits
Bitcoin (BTC)
Editor:
Eugene Serbin
Cointelegraph.com reports that South Korean exchange Bithumb has secured first-instance victories in two lawsuits against users who sold Bitcoin credited in error. The Seoul Central District District Court ruled in Bithumb's favor on Wednesday and Thursday regarding claims for 5 million won ($3,600) and 194 million won ($140,000). These cases stem from a February 6, 2026 promotional error where 620,000 BTC were mistakenly credited to accounts instead of 620,000 won.
Although Bithumb recovered 99.7% of the 620,000 BTC, some users sold 1,788 BTC before accounts were frozen. The exchange filed four unjust enrichment lawsuits in March to recover cash from these sales. Two other lawsuits seeking approximately 14.8 million won and 500 million won remain pending.
Court documents in the won cases were served by public notice because defendants could not be located through ordinary methods. The rulings advance Bithumb's efforts to recoup funds from the incident that occurred during a reward distribution to 249 users. Meanwhile, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service has begun sanctions proceedings following an investigation into how the exchange credited Bitcoin it did not hold. Bithumb faces additional scrutiny, including a police raid in June and a challenge against a six-month business suspension for Anti-Money Laundering violations.
How the market reacted
Whalio's own Binance spot order flow for BTC, measured when this story was written up on 27 August 2026. Not the outlet's figures.
BTC is trading at $79,023.75 with a 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9%, indicating balanced activity over the day. However, shorter timeframes show weaker sentiment, with buy ratios dropping to 40.7% in the last hour and 43.0% over four hours. This decline suggests that immediate buying pressure is fading compared to the daily average. Volume deltas reflect this shift, showing net selling of -$10,177,635 in the last hour and -$13,495,762 over four hours. The cumulative volume delta for the day closed at -$60,135,024, confirming that sellers dominated the flow. Net buying occurred in only 10 of the 24 hours, highlighting a day where selling pressure outweighed buying interest.
The latest daily buy ratio of 46.7% sits at the 18th percentile of the last 322 days, against a median of 49.2% - weaker buying than most days.
Twenty-four hours later
What BTC did over the 24 hours after the story broke. The market moves for its own reasons; this is what happened, not what the story caused.
Was that an ordinary day?
The same Binance spot measurements for BTC, averaged over the days leading up to the story.
This day contrasts with the preceding week, where the average buy ratio was 51.6%. The current 24-hour buy ratio of 49.9% is 1.7 percentage points lower than the weekly average, indicating slightly weaker relative demand. Spot volume for the day was $1,148,236,056, which is 0.54 times the weekly average volume, signaling a significant drop in trading activity. While the coin gained 14.0% over eight days, the current session shows reduced participation compared to the prior week's norm. This suggests the recent upward momentum is pausing with lower volume and slightly reduced buying dominance.