Bithumb will raise its bug bounty rewards to a maximum of 200 million won. The move aims to block potential threats in advance by working with external security experts.

Bithumb said on Wednesday it will expand the maximum reward under its Bug Bounty programme to 200 million won.

A bug bounty is a system that pays rewards to white hat hackers who find security vulnerabilities in a service. It is an open security cooperation framework that receives reports of potential threats from the perspective of external experts and improves them.

Bithumb introduced a bug bounty scheme in September 2022, the first among domestic virtual asset service providers (VASP). From the second half of this year, it will strengthen the existing programme and raise the maximum reward to 200 million won.

Rewards will be paid differently depending on the severity of the reported vulnerability. Participants can conduct black-box penetration tests within the announced scope to find vulnerabilities.

Bithumb plans to encourage participation by white hat hackers and promote a culture of responsible reporting through the increase in rewards. It plans to proactively review and improve areas that may have security vulnerabilities.

It also revamped operations of its Privacy Center to transparently inform users about personal data protection activities. Bithumb plans to disclose to users, through the Privacy Center, the status of personal data processing in line with relevant laws and its information security activities.

It also plans to build an open security ecosystem through external vulnerability checks via the bug bounty programme and by disclosing the contents of regular meetings of its information security advisory committee.

A Bithumb official said, "To create a safe environment for investors, we raised the bug bounty rewards to the highest level in the country," adding, "We will continue to share the status of information security and build an open security ecosystem."