Upbit Hack: $38 Million Worth of Solana-Linked Digital Assets Stolen.
Following the misappropriation of 54 billion won (about \$38 million) worth of Solana-linked digital assets onto an external wallet, South Korea’s largest virtual asset exchange, Upbit, has suspended all withdrawals and deposits. The hacked assets included Solana’s Double Zero (2Z), Bonk (BONK), Jupiter (JUP), Official Trump (TRUMP), and others.
Solana-Linked Digital Assets Also Affected.
Following the hack, Upbit confirmed that its wallets on the Solana network were compromised, resulting in the hack. Some other Solana-linked digital assets that were affected by the hack include USDC, W, LAYER, SONIC, SOON, RAY, ORCA, PYTH, ME, MEW, DOOD, HUMA, IO, JTO, ACS, RENDER, MOODENG, DRIFT, HUMA, ME, and derivative tokens on the Solana network.
To perform a security review, the exchange halted all withdrawals and deposits. As a result of the attacks, Upbit users were assured that the exchange would offset all losses:
“We recognized the amount of digital assets that have been lost and we will ensure that all the losses will be covered by Upbit. Members will not suffer losses under all circumstances.”
Measures Taken and the Ongoing Inquiry.
To investigate the incident, Upbit partnered with blockchain security companies. There was a passing of all digital assets on Solana and other blockchains to cold wallets to minimize the losses. There were also on-chain strategies to freeze any transactions involving such blockchains. There are active lost asset tracing and other relationships with the law enforcement bodies and there are some assets that have been frozen.
The exchange also has a complete assessment of the overall crypto deposit and crypto withdrawal system, particularly its robustness and security. Services will restart when all of the security measures are reviewed.
Market Impact
The impact of this hack on the Solana system has been slightly negative overall. There has been some profit-taking with the SOL token, whereas some of the other assets including RENDER, JUP, BONK, and PENGU lost more than one percent within only a few hours. At this moment, SOL is worth 142.85 and has been as low as 135.63 and as high as 144.47 within the last 24 hours.
This is occurring after the $129 Million Balancer hack that took place at the start of this month. The parent company of Upbit, Dunamu, has also recently been bought by Naver Financial which has some in the crypto world on edge.
Earlier, Upbit received a $25 million fine from the Financial Intelligence Unit and a three month suspension on onboarding new customers. This was because of certain violations of Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer rules. This hack has only brought even more negative light to the South Korean crypto systems.
More and more, South Korean regulators and other authorities continue to monitor crypto exchanges, and in response, South Korean authorities have been regulation other sectors of the economy to create compliance measures as well.
