Bithumb Lounge in Gangnam District, Seoul, Feb. 10 / Yonhap
Bithumb’s crypto exchange market share, which had generally hovered near the 30 percent level, fell to the mid-20 percent range in the aftermath of the erroneous bitcoin distribution incident on Feb. 6, industry officials said Sunday.
The exchange’s temporary zero fee campaign, introduced as part of its compensation plan, briefly pushed its share back above 30 percent earlier this month. However, the rebound quickly faded once the promotion ended, reinforcing the view that short-term pricing incentives were insufficient to fully restore weakened investor confidence.
According to data from market tracker CoinGecko, Bithumb accounted for 24.8 percent of trading among the country’s five won-denominated crypto exchanges as of last Friday. Upbit led with 58.4 percent, followed by Bithumb, Coinone at 13 percent, Korbit at 3.5 percent and Gopax at 0.3 percent.
On Feb. 6, Bithumb mistakenly credited users with 2,000 bitcoins each instead of distributing bitcoins worth 2,000 won ($1.38) during a promotional event, resulting in an erroneous payout of 620,000 bitcoins. The amount far exceeded the exchange’s reported holdings of 42,800 bitcoins as of the third quarter of last year, raising concerns that the incident exposed deeper flaws in internal controls and ledger management beyond a simple input error.
On Jan. 5, Bithumb had recorded a 31.5 percent share, but the figure dropped to the low-20 percent range the day after the misallocation incident.
To contain the fallout, Bithumb introduced a weeklong suspension of trading fees on all digital assets starting Feb. 9, which sparked a short-term surge in activity and lifted its share back to 31.5 percent on Feb. 10. However, the gains proved temporary, with the exchange’s share quickly retreating once the promotion ended on Feb. 16.
While Bithumb lost ground, competitors gained traction. Coinone’s share has risen to around 13 percent from 6.5 percent a month earlier, effectively doubling its footprint.
Trading at Korbit has also surged, with volumes increasing about 12.5 times from a month earlier as of last Wednesday. The spike is widely attributed to Mirae Asset Financial Group’s move to acquire a 92 percent stake in Korbit, boosting expectations for enhanced credibility and growth initiatives.
At the same time, Upbit is pursuing a comprehensive share swap with Naver Financial, while Gopax has been acquired by global exchange Binance, heightening expectations of a broader reshaping of the domestic crypto exchange landscape.
Source: Korea Times News
