South Korea‘s two largest cryptocurrency exchanges have agreed to compensate their users for technical glitches. The issue concerns operational problems. Upbit and Bithumb, which occurred during the imposition of martial law in December 2024.
Then, due to the announcement of the arrest of the president of South Korea, there was a sharp increase in traffic on the exchanges. Number of users Upbit grew from 100 to over 000 million in a short period of time, causing a 1,1-minute outage. The outage on Bithumb lasted 99 minutes. During this time, some investors were unable to trade or withdraw funds, losing money as the price of many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, plummeted.
In total, the exchanges will pay out more than 3,5 billion won (approximately $2,5 million) to customers, which will be a record compensation in the history of the South Korean crypto industry.
According to reports submitted by the companies to the country’s National Assembly, Upbit will pay users more than 3,24 billion won for 596 cases, Bithumb — 377 million won for 124 cases. The final compensation amount may increase, as the exchanges are still negotiating with affected customers.
Pay compensation Upbit and Bithumb will be under the supervision of the Financial Supervisory Authority of South Korea. The agency will also investigate complaints and respond to users of crypto exchanges.