Crypto Exchange Glitch Allowed 2021 Bitcoin Purchase For $6k
Last Updated on 23 March 2021 by CryptoTips.eu
ABS-CBN is one of the biggest news channels in the Philippines, which in turn is one of the most populated nations in South East Asia (109 million people, larger than any European country). For the past two weeks, ABS-CBN’s business reporter Michelle Krystie Ong has been writing about what happened at local crypto exchange PDAX.
Earlier this month, on 16 February to be exact, the price of Bitcoin on the PDAX site dropped 88% due to a technical glitch. During that brief moment, several users were able to buy Bitcoin, currently trading for $49k, for the discount price of $6,100.
The glitch was quickly discovered and led to a 36 hour closure of the site. Even now, several users report that they are still locked outside of their accounts.
Gaba, PDAX: Price for bitcoin, other cryptos is anybody's guess- but one thing is for sure, these are going mainstream- to see increasing interest, volatility so we need regulated exchanges @ANCALERTS
— Michelle Krystle Ong (@michelle_d_ong) February 22, 2021
Reddit legal advice
One user, who prefers to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, has been asking legal advice from Reddit’s Philippine crypto board, as to what he should do with the Bitcoin has was able to obtain, saying:
I woke up and checked the PDAX trading platform then I saw a sell order for Bitcoin priced at only 300,000.00 per BTC (Price was currently at 2,200,000 per BTC on other platforms). So I placed a Buy order for a small amount of BTC, the order was filled immediately and I managed to transfer the purchased BTC to another wallet outside PDAX just before they closed the trading and eventually the website.
Investors are worried that their money is trapped in PDAX accounts for days following a trade glitch last week.https://t.co/QjAozIyV90
— Interaksyon (@interaksyon) February 23, 2021
After almost 24 hours, they sent me a demand letter and SMS, requesting me to transfer back the BTC, which was purchased well within my rights without violating any laws or regulations of the trading platform, or they ‘may’ be compelled to take legal actions against me.
I do hope that guy who bought btc amounting to 13B wins his dispute against pdax. He bought it legally naman and i think no terms and conditions were violated. This might be the first crypto legal case in the PH if ever haha imagine being richer than henry sy hahaha
— CryptoNiko🇵🇭 (@CryptoNiko2) February 18, 2021
Anyone who could be traced back indeed received a notice from PDAX already that legal action would be imminent, but according to the website’s terms and conditions, all orders, once executed, are final and irreversible.
The exchange’s CEO, Nichel Gaba said in response:
It’s very understandable that a lot of users will feel upset they were able to buy what they thought an order was there for Bitcoin at very low prices. But unfortunately, the underlying Bitcoins were never in the possession of the exchange, so there’s never really anything there to be bought or sold.
Would you give it back? Let us know in the comments below.
BiancoBlue / Depositphotos.com