On 27 November, the South Korean crypto exchange Upbit announced successful hacking attack that resulted in 342,000 ETH worth $50 million fleeing away.
Cybercriminals attacked the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit. Attackers managed to withdraw 342,000 Ethereum tokens from Upbit's hot wallet worth $50 million.
The attack occurred at around 13:06 Seoul time. At 18:00 Seoul, Upbit CEO Lee Seok-woo officially announced that the exchanged was hacked.
- Cybercriminals transferred all 342,000 ETH to an anonymous wallet by one transaction. That transaction was followed by 10 transactions, each of $1.51 million-worth of tron (TRX), totaling 100,000,000 TRX.
- After the Upbit team discovered the leak, all funds from the exchange's hot wallets were transferred to cold stores.
- According to WhaleAlert, part of the assets from the hot Upbit wallets were transferred to wallets owned by Bittrex.
- Upbit and Bittrex had a partnership agreement concluded in 2018, but currently reportedly expired.
- Deposits and withdrawals to and from Upbit are frozen for at least next two weeks.
- Upbit promised to reimburse all stolen funds from corporate assets in the near future.
- Upbit filed a complaint with South Korean law enforcement agencies, notably KISA and the National Police Agency’s cybersecurity bureau.
- Upbit turned to other trading platforms with a call to blacklist the address of the attacker's wallet, which received 342,000 ETH.
- Upbit is South Korea's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange along with Korbit, Bithumb and Coinone.
- Upbit is the only one of these four largest cryptocurrency exchanges in South Korea that managed to remain profitable in 2018.
- The operator of the cryptocurrency exchange Upbit is Dunamu Inc.
- Upbit is the first cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea that obtained a license from the South Korean Internet and Security Agency. Upbit is also a member of the national blockchain association, a self-regulatory organization that brings together 14 cryptocurrency platforms in South Korea.
