Philippine crypto exchange PDAX has experienced a system outage that has allowed some users to buy Bitcoins at a significantly lower price than the market price. Now the company has required these users to return these assets, local news outlet Bitpinas has reported.
Last February 16, some PDAX users reported an unexpected increase in account balances, while others reported a decrease. In one of the cases, a user found 40B Philippine pesos, or about $820B, in his account.
At the same time, some noticed a sudden drop in the price of Bitcoin to 300,000 pesos ($6,150), while the crypto was trading at an average price of $50,000 in the market. PDAX soon after announced an emergency technical maintenance.
One of the users told how he bought Bitcoins at that price "for a small amount" and sent the cryptocurrencies to his own wallet. A day later, PDAX sent him an e-mail and SMS demanding that he return the Bitcoins, citing "unreasonable accumulation of assets" and attributing the debt to his account. The buyer's lawyer says:
"That trade was executed, filled, and shoyld therefore be considered as final. In fact, BTC, was delivered to him and he was able to withdraw them. PDAX cannot unilaterally reverse the transaction."
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The exchange has announced it has restored access for at least 95% of users, but many claim they are still unable to use their accounts. PDAX CEO Nichel Gaba has admitted users are likely to be unhappy with the trades that have been canceled:
"However, the Bitcoins they used were not held by the exchange, so nothing could be bought or sold."