Bithumb's $42B Oopsie: Now Hunting Down the Last 7 BTC

South Korean exchange Bithumb has filed for a court-approved asset freeze to recover 7 Bitcoin still missing from a February payout error that accidentally distributed 620,000 BTC. That's right, folks—Bithumb accidentally printed money so hard it made the Federal Reserve look like a lemonade stand. Now they're playing global scavenger hunt with a grand total of 7 BTC, which, honestly, is probably less than what some degen blew on a meme coin last Tuesday.

On Feb. 6, Bithumb intended to distribute 620,000 won ($420) to 249 event winners. Due to an input error, the system instead sent out 620,000 Bitcoin, briefly valuing the mistaken transfer at roughly 62 trillion Korean won ($42 billion). To put that in perspective: that's roughly the GDP of a small country, or enough to buy every Lambo in Monaco—twice. The winners probably thought they'd finally made it, only to discover the universe had just given them a very expensive panic attack.

The exchange reversed the transactions within minutes, but some funds had already been moved. Bithumb recovered 99.7% of the funds on the same day and covered the 0.3% (1,788 BTC) that had already been sold using company reserves. In what can only be described as the fastest heist in reverse, Bithumb pulled off a 99.7% recovery rate while most of us can't even remember our seed phrases. The 1,788 BTC that got sold? Bithumb just ate that loss like a champ, probably while crying into their balance sheets.

Since then, the exchange has contacted affected users individually and recovered most of the sold funds. However, a small number of recipients have refused to return the remainder, with some arguing they bear no responsibility for returning the funds since the mistake was Bithumb's. Ah, yes—the "finders keepers" defense. These absolute legends are out here arguing that accidentally receiving enough Bitcoin to buy a small island somehow constitutes a legitimate windfall. The mental gymnastics required to justify keeping 7 BTC while knowing full well it was a typo must be Olympic-level.

Under South Korean law, mistakenly received assets are typically classified as unjust enrichment and must be returned. Those users may face unfavorable outcomes in court if the case proceeds. So for those holding out: congratulations, you've upgraded from accidental Bitcoin recipient to test case for "Can I keep free money forever?" The answer, spoiler alert, is no. Korean courts don't take kindly to keeping what isn't yours, no matter how much you insist the blockchain gods intended it as a gift.

Cointelegraph reached out to Bithumb for comment but did not receive an immediate response. Classic. When you've accidentally sent out $42 billion, words are kind of hard to find. Probably just counting the 7 BTC and crying.