The cryptocurrency exchange "Bithumb" apologized today, Saturday, after accidentally transferring more than 40 billion dollars worth of Bitcoin to its users; causing a temporary drop in the price of the currency on the platform.
Bithumb clarified that it mistakenly sent 620,000 Bitcoins worth more than 40 billion dollars, and suspended trading and withdrawals for 695 users within 35 minutes of the error occurring on Friday.
According to local reports, Bithumb was supposed to send around 2000 won ($1.37) to each customer as part of a promotional offer; however, it mistakenly transferred nearly 2000 Bitcoin to each user.
Bithumb stated in a statement: "We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to our customers as a result of the error that occurred during the distribution of this promotional offer."
The platform confirmed that it has recovered 99.7 percent of the Bitcoin that was sent by mistake, and that it will use its own assets to cover the entire lost amount.
The platform acknowledged that the error briefly caused "sharp fluctuations" in Bitcoin prices, as some recipients sold the coins, and added that it had controlled the situation within five minutes.
Charts showed a slight decrease in the currency's price by 17 percent, reaching 81.1 million Korean won on the platform late Friday.
In a separate statement on Saturday, the Bithumb platform explained that some trades were executed at unfavorable prices for users due to price drops during the incident that occurred on Friday; including "panic selling."
The platform confirmed that it will compensate affected customers by covering the price difference in full, in addition to a 10 percent bonus.
The losses were estimated at around 1 billion Korean won.
The platform had confirmed that the incident "is not related to any external hacking or security breaches."
Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency, experienced a sharp decline this week that wiped out gains made after U.S. President Donald Trump won the presidential election in November $BTC