The South Korean cryptocurrency exchange CoinZest is trying to recover cryptocurrencies worth $5.3 million it accidentally airdropped. The bungle highlights the immutable and irreversible nature of blockchain transactions.
The error occurred while the exchange was trying to airdrop We Game Tokens to its users as a promotional event.
Instead, it airdropped the wrong coins. Users received Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), among other cryptocurrencies.
Exchange operators are calling it a computer server glitch, with a number of users also accidentally receiving Korean won in their accounts.
Some account holders who received BTC immediately decided to sell, causing a sharp price drop, according to Coindesk Korea.
An official of the exchange revealed to Hankyung, a Korean publication, that a handful of users triggered the price plunge. Reports Bitcoin.com,
“About 10 members tried to sell about KRW 600 million worth [~$530,000 USD] of cryptocurrencies or to withdraw money in Korean won even though they recognized the mistake of depositing money and computer errors. [Therefore] there has been a problem of rapid price decline.”
The exchange says users have returned nearly half of the misplaced crypto with roughly $2.6 million yet to be returned.
CoinZest has no plans to compensate the losses suffered by its users.
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