- Upbit halted all deposits and withdrawals after a $36 million breach drained assets from its Solana hot wallet.
- The exchange is working with authorities to recover funds, has moved assets to cold storage, and will fully reimburse affected users.
Major Security Incident Forces Immediate Shutdown
Upbit has suspended all deposits and withdrawals following a significant security breach that compromised its Solana hot wallet. The exchange detected unusual activity early on Nov. 27, prompting an urgent shutdown to protect user assets.
Kyung-seok, CEO of Dunamu, the company behind Upbit, issued a public apology, stressing that user protection was the exchange’s top priority. He confirmed that Upbit immediately halted all transaction services while initiating a full inspection of its systems.
$36 Million Drained Across 24 Solana-Based Tokens
According to initial estimates, roughly 54 billion won (about $36 million) was drained directly from a wallet controlled by Upbit. The affected assets included at least 24 Solana-based tokens, including SOL, USDC, Bonk (BONK), Layer (LAYER), and Jupiter (JUP).
As part of its recovery efforts, Upbit successfully froze around 12 billion won worth of LAYER tokens and is collaborating with various projects and institutions to freeze more of the stolen funds. Investigations are ongoing as the exchange works with authorities to trace the stolen assets and uncover the source of the breach.
While the exact attack method remains unclear, early assessments suggest the incident was linked to Upbit’s wallet infrastructure rather than any flaw in Solana’s protocol.
Users Will Be Fully Reimbursed
Upbit has committed to covering all user losses from its own holdings, although it has not yet released a detailed reimbursement schedule. To reinforce security, the exchange has transferred all digital assets to cold storage and is conducting a thorough audit of its deposit and withdrawal systems across all networks, not just Solana.
Upbit plans to resume deposits and withdrawals gradually once it confirms system safety.
Potential Impact on Upbit’s IPO Plans
Although smaller in scale compared to Upbit’s 2019 breach, which resulted in the loss of 342,000 ETH, this latest incident comes at a difficult time for Dunamu. The company is finalizing a merger with tech giant Naver and is preparing for a U.S. public listing. The breach could delay these plans as regulatory scrutiny intensifies.
Upbit was already under close watch after recently settling a 35.2 billion won penalty for anti-money-laundering violations. This new security failure is likely to bring even sharper oversight, especially as investor protection remains a central concern in South Korea’s crypto market.
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