Crypto.com Sues User After Refunding $10M Instead of $100
Crypto.com reportedly didn’t realise it had sent $10 million to one of its users by mistake for seven months
Crypto.com; Source: Shutterstock
key takeaways
- Two sisters in Melbourne reportedly used the erroneous AU$10 million ($6.6 million) to buy a luxurious mansion
- A judge has ordered the property be sold and the funds returned to Crypto.com
Exchange platform Crypto.com is reeling from an expensive mistake after accidentally refunding an Australian woman an amount way higher than she expected.
The woman, based in Melbourne, sought a AU$100 ($66) refund from the exchange in May last year, but received AU$10 million ($6.6 million), Daily Mail reported.
Crypto.com didn’t realize the error until seven months later, during an end-of-year audit, according to the outlet.
The Singapore-headquartered exchange legally pursued the user to recover the money, informing the court that the blunder happened because an account number was entered the payment field, instead of the initially requested amount, the report said.
But by the time Crypto.com realized what happened, the cash had already gone towards a multi-million dollar mansion in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn, complete with a home cinema and gym.
The women are not getting away easily. A judge has now reportedly ordered their property be sold and for the exchange’s money to be paid back.
Crypto.com will likely win in court as it’s a well-established company, but this will serve as a cautionary tale for other companies, according to Alexander Tkachenko, CEO of asset tokenization platform VNX.
“While random errors occur on most platforms, this one is too costly to ignore,” he told Blockworks. Representatives for Crypto.com didn’t return request for comment by press time.
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 in Hong Kong and counts over 50 million active users, according to the company.
The fiasco echoes a similar event that took place around the same time last year.
Crypto lender BlockFi mistakenly deposited bitcoin worth millions of dollars to a number of user accounts in May 2021, when the asset traded around $49,000.
Staff had accidentally processed payments in BTC rather than stablecoin GUSD. In a tweet, BlockFi said some clients who participated in a trading promotion would see inaccurate bonus payments.
CEO Zac Prince said the firm sent a “couple hundred” in bitcoin to less than 100 users. Reports of legal threats to the recipients later surfaced.
Article updated to correct intended stablecoin in BlockFi’s erroneous payments.
Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:
- Blockworks Daily: The newsletter that helps thousands of investors understand crypto and the markets, by Byron Gilliam.
- Empire: Start your morning with the top news and analysis to inform your day in crypto.
- Forward Guidance: Reporting and analysis on the growing intersection of crypto and macroeconomics, policy and finance.
- 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox. Market highlights, data, degen trade ideas, governance updates, token performance and more.
- Lightspeed: Built for Solana investors, developers and community members. The latest from one of crypto’s hottest networks.
- The Drop: For crypto collectors and traders, covering apps, games, memes and more.
- Supply Shock: Tracking Bitcoin’s rise from internet plaything worth less than a penny to global phenomenon disrupting money as we know it.
