Hackers Steal $37 Million from South Korean Exchange Upbit

Hackers stole $37 million from Upbit, South Korea's largest bitcoin exchange.

On November 27, South Korea’s largest bitcoin exchange, Upbit, suspended withdrawals following an attack in which hackers stole assets worth $36.8 million.

The incident occurred on the Solana network. Around 4 a.m. local time, some tokens were transferred to an unknown external wallet.

The affected assets include: SOL, 2Z, ACS, BONK, DOOD, DRIFT, HUMA, IO, JTO, JUP, LAYER, ME, MEW, MOODENG, ORCA, PENGU, PYTH, RAY, RENDER, SONIC, SOON, TRUMP, USDC, and W.

Upbit moved all tokens to secure cold wallets. They managed to freeze some of the stolen assets — LAYER tokens worth $8.18 million.

The exchange stated it is working with blockchain security teams and law enforcement to investigate the incident. Representatives of the platform emphasized that users will receive full compensation for losses from the company’s reserves.

Details of the attack have not yet been disclosed.

Merger

On November 26, South Korea’s leading IT conglomerate, Naver Financial, announced the acquisition of Dunamu, the operator of Upbit. The deal was valued at $10.29 billion. Following the merger, both companies will maintain their independence and continue to operate within their current business areas.

According to sources, the exchange is preparing for an IPO in light of the event.

Shareholders of Dunamu will be able to exchange their shares for Naver Financial’s at an agreed rate of 1:3.3, after which Dunamu will come under Naver’s control.

Dunamu Chairman Song Chi-hyung and Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-nen will become the largest stakeholders in the merged entity, holding a combined 30% stake.

The CEO of the exchange operator, Oh Kyung-sok, stated that the firms will work on developing their own stablecoin, pegged to the South Korean won. Earlier, local media reported that in December, Naver will launch a wallet for “stablecoins” as part of a pilot project in Busan.

It was also reported that over the next five years, Naver and Dunamu will invest about $6.8 billion in creating financial infrastructure based on artificial intelligence and blockchain.

Back in November last year, South Korean authorities discovered up to 600,000 KYC violations at Upbit.