Angry Crypto Exchange customers will be compensated – if they can prove one thing
South Korean market-leading crypto exchange Upbit has announced that it will compensate traders who lost money during the power outage that destroyed the platform’s login functionality over the weekend – but only if they can prove that they were actually going to sell their coins during the outage. .
A fire broke out in a data center that hosts 32,000 of chat app giant KakaoTalk’s servers on Saturday afternoon (KST), causing a near total blackout of services. This hit Upbit traders hard – as Upbit customers can only log into the platform by using a KakaoTalk-powered login service or by using Apple IDs. For Android users without an Apple ID, the KakaoTalk login feature is the only way to access the platform.
A number of upset traders claimed they were unable to make key sales over the weekend, with some saying they had lost “hundreds of USD” worth of money on trades they were unable to complete.
The stock exchange now says that it will compensate some users – but those who expect a slightly unexpected windfall may have to think again. The platform explained that it will require users to come forward with proof that they were actually supposed to do the transactions they claim they couldn’t do while KakaoTalk was down.
Digital Today also reported that only customers who actually sold coins at a loss would receive compensation — and those who decided to HODL their tokens after prices rose would miss out.
Upbit explained that disgruntled customers “must provide specific facts and evidence” to support their claims – and must prove they sold tokens as soon as they were finally able to log into their accounts.
The media wrote, citing the trading platform, that “customers who did not sell crypto-assets due to price drops or other reasons will not be awarded compensation.”
Compensation to be paid in BTC, Exchange says
An Upbit spokesperson was quoted as saying:
“Since it is difficult to prove an intention to sell, we have decided to compensate those customers who actually sold their coins.”
The company added that it would pay out compensation in bitcoin (BTC), with individual amounts to be calculated by October 31.
Per CoinGecko data, the company’s 24-hour trading volume (at the time of writing) is $1,469,700,960, with CoinMarketCap putting the figure at $1,507,492,032.
