South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb accidentally distributed Bitcoin worth over $40 billion to users as part of a promotion, causing a wave of selling on the platform. Bithumb issued a swift apology for the error that occurred on Friday and said it had successfully recovered 99.7% of the approximately 620,000 Bitcoin involved — worth around $44 billion at current prices. In response, Bithumb restricted transactions and withdrawals for 695 affected users within 35 minutes of the erroneous distribution. The incident raises serious questions about the operational risk management and security practices of cryptocurrency exchanges, particularly those running large-scale promotional campaigns. Ref: MES Times