Upbit Freezes User Transfers Amid Security Breach, Guarantees Refunds

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, halted all deposits and withdrawals on Thursday after discovering roughly $36 million in unauthorized transfers from a Solana hot wallet.

The breach was detected early in the morning, prompting an immediate shutdown of all fund movements and a platform-wide security audit.

Upbit said the incident was limited to a single hot wallet and that its cold-storage reserves – which hold the majority of customer assets – were not affected. Remaining funds were quickly moved offline while the exchange launched onchain freezing efforts. Trading remains active, but users cannot move assets in or out until the review is complete.

The exchange has committed to reimbursing all impacted customer balances from its reserves, stating that no user action is required.
Regulators have begun on-site inspections, though Upbit has not provided a timeline for reopening transfers.

Read More:

Lawmakers Claim Trump-Aligned Crypto Ventures Pose Transparency Risks

Breach Overshadows Dunamu’s Major Expansion Plans

The security incident comes at a sensitive moment for Upbit’s parent company, Dunamu, which just announced a $10.3 billion acquisition deal with Naver Financial. The stock-swap arrangement will make Dunamu a wholly owned subsidiary as both firms prepare for a future U.S. IPO and a multi-billion-dollar push into Web3 and AI development.

The breach also renews scrutiny of Upbit’s security track record, recalling its 2019 hack that cost the exchange nearly $50 million.
Upbit and Dunamu have not yet responded to requests for comment.