As withdrawals of some altcoins (Altcoin, all virtual assets except bitcoin) at domestic virtual asset exchange Bithumb were delayed for more than 13 hours, the Financial Supervisory Service plans to visit Bithumb on site to identify the cause of the withdrawal delays. Bithumb said the impact stemmed from a temporary surge in withdrawal requests that left an insufficient amount available for immediate withdrawal.
According to the virtual asset industry on the 13th, a Bithumb user applied to withdraw altcoins on the morning of the 11th at Bithumb, but the withdrawal was completed around 12:25 a.m. the next day, about 13 hours later. The user said that after inquiring with Bithumb's customer center, they were guided that "withdrawals are being delayed due to insufficient balance." The Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) plans to visit Bithumb's headquarters to check the cause of the withdrawal delays and the user response process.
Bithumb explained that the amount in the hot wallet (Hot Wallet, online storage) available for immediate withdrawals was temporarily depleted. It means that as withdrawal applications for certain virtual assets piled up in a short period, users' withdrawals were processed more slowly.
Under the Virtual Asset User Protection Act, exchanges are required to store at least 80% of users' virtual assets in cold wallets (Cold Wallet, offline storage). Exchanges keep most coins in cold wallets and, when a withdrawal request comes in, first pay out using the amount secured in the hot wallet.
A Bithumb official said, "If the volume of withdrawal requests temporarily exceeds the holdings in the hot wallet, withdrawals may be delayed while assets are replenished from the cold wallet," adding, "Users' assets are being properly held and managed. Since the phrase 'insufficient balance' can cause misunderstanding, we will improve the related guidance so that users can understand it accurately."