Crypto.com mistakenly refunds $7.2 million to customer

Crypto.com only realized the mistake when conducting an audit in December 2021

The Los Angeles Lakers arena sponsoring and Matt Damon-endorsed cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com accidentally transferred 10.5 million AUD (7.16 million USD) to an Australian customer instead of issuing a standard 100 AUD (68.23 USD) due to a pretty unfortunate typo. According to Australian news outlet 7News (via CoinTelegraph), the exchange didn’t even notice the error until seven months later, and by that time, a portion of the money was already gone.

The initial transfer occurred in May 2021 after an employee accidentally typed an account number in the payment amount field. Crypto.com only realized the mistake when conducting an audit in December 2021.

Instead of reporting the incorrect refund to Crypto.com, the customer in question, Thevamanogari Manivel, reportedly transferred the cash to a joint account and spent 1.3 million AUD (0.89 million USD) on a luxurious, five-bedroom home for her sister.

Now the company’s fighting to get its cash back with a lawsuit filed in the Victoria Supreme Court. As noted by The Guardian, Crypto.com successfully put a freeze on Manivel’s account in February. The court has also ordered Manivel to sell the home and return the money (with interest) to the exchange. The case will resume in court this October. Following the news, a Crypto.com representative told Decrypt the situation is currently “before the courts” and would not offer comment further.

Extraordinarily, the Plaintiffs allegedly did not realize this significant error until some seven months later, in late December 2021, the Victorian Supreme Court judge James Elliott wrote in a court ruling.

Crypto.com has come under fire by some crypto investors in the wake of its now-infamous commercial featuring Matt Damon titled “Fortune Favors the Brave.” Since the ad’s debut in Oct. 2021, prices for bitcoin are down nearly 70%, and ethereum prices have been cut in half.