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    Upbit Freezes Transfers After $36M Hot Wallet Breach

    newsworldaiBy No Comments4 Mins Read0 Views
    Upbit Freezes Transfers After M Hot Wallet Breach


    Update November 27, 9:23 AM UTC: This article has been updated to include comments from Matej Zach, CEO of Trezor.

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    South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbet, on Thursday temporarily froze deposits and withdrawals after discovering an unauthorized withdrawal of about $36 million from the Solana network’s hot wallet.

    In an announcement, the exchange said the suspicious transfer was flagged around 4:42 a.m. local time, prompting it to shut down transfer services and conduct a full security review of its supported cryptoassets.

    Upbitt confirmed that the compromise was isolated to its hot wallet, highlighting that the cold wall reserves are untouched. The exchange moved its remaining assets into cold storage and began efforts to freeze Onchin.

    The incident brought fresh scrutiny to Dynamo, which had just announced a $10 billion acquisition deal with fintech giant DevNever. It also revived memories of UPBIT’s 2019 security breach, when the exchange lost nearly $50 million in an attack orchestrated by Lazarus, a North Korean hacking group.

    Upbit to reimburse user funds lost in breach

    Upbit said it has suspended reserves and evacuations at the platform as a precaution, a measure that will remain in place until it completes its safety review. The freeze isn’t limited to Solana-based assets, as the company works to secure its systems and assess remaining threats.

    Trading on the platform operates normally, allowing users to buy and sell assets on the exchange. However, the review is ongoing while users cannot transfer funds on or off the platform.

    The company also assured customers that any balance lost as a result of the security incident would be fully covered by its reserves, stressing that no customer assets would be lost due to the breach.

    Upbit said that customers do not need to take any action to recover their funds. However, the exchange asked users to be patient as it conducts platform-wide audits and works closely with regulators to finalize the investigation.

    According to local reports, the financial authorities have started an on-site inspection to better understand the incident.

    While the exchange has assured users that their funds will be returned, it has not disclosed a clear timeline.

    Quintalgraphs reached out to Upbit and Dynamo for comment, but did not receive a response by publication.

    Crypto exchanges are “massive honeypots” for hackers

    At the TBD conference, Trezor CEO Matej Zack stated that the security issues surrounding crypto exchanges will not be resolved anytime soon.

    “Exchanges are clearly massive honeypots for hackers,” Zack said. “And because security is a moving target, the problem is not going away.”

    Zack points to an increase in crypto-assets exposed to security incidents in 2025. On July 1, blockchain security company Serac reported that approximately $2.47 billion was stolen in the first half of 2025 in hacks, scams, and exploits.

    He also pointed to the $1.5 billion Bible hack in March, one of the largest crypto hacks on record.

    Related: South Korea’s stablecoin framework stalls as regulators split on banks’ role

    The security incident hit the middle of Dynamo’s global expansion plans

    The event comes amid a major milestone for Upbit, as its parent company, Dynamo, struck a deal to acquire South Korean search engine platform Naver for $10.3 billion.

    Never Financial will acquire upbeat operator Dynamo in a stock swap deal worth 15.1 trillion won (about $10.3 billion), according to a filing on Wednesday. Never will issue 87.5 million new shares to Dinmo shareholders and will thereafter make Dinamo a wholly owned subsidiary.

    In addition to its acquisition plans, Dynamo also plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States after the completion of its merger.

    In addition to the acquisition and IPO plans, Naver and Dynamo also reportedly plan to invest about $7 billion over the next five years to develop an ecosystem for Web 3 technologies and artificial intelligence.