Upbit Exchange Reports $36 Million Loss in Solana Hot Wallet Security Breach

TLDR

• Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, suffered a security breach resulting in approximately $36-37 million in losses from its Solana network hot wallet
• The unauthorized withdrawals affected multiple tokens including BONK, JTO, SONIC, USDC, and various other Solana-based assets
• Upbit immediately halted deposit and withdrawal services and moved all remaining assets to cold storage following the detection of irregular transfers
• Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok confirmed the exchange will fully compensate all affected users with its own assets
• The exchange is working with law enforcement and has successfully frozen approximately $8.3 million worth of Solayer tokens

Upbit detected unauthorized withdrawals from its Solana network hot wallet early Thursday morning at approximately 4:42 AM local time. The South Korean exchange confirmed that roughly 54 billion Korean won, equivalent to $36-37 million, was transferred to external wallet addresses not designated by the platform.

The breach affected multiple digital assets operating on the Solana blockchain. Compromised tokens included meme coins such as Bonk, Moodeng, and Official Trump. Decentralized finance tokens like Sonic SVM, Access Protocol, Jito, and Raydium were also part of the unauthorized transfers.

Other affected assets included Pudgy Penguin, Circle’s USD Coin, DoubleZero, Drift, Ionet, Jupiter, Solayer, and Magic Eden. The exchange identified the irregular activity through its internal monitoring systems. Upbit’s security team traced the funds to wallet addresses that were not part of the exchange’s authorized infrastructure.

Emergency Response Measures

Upbit responded by immediately suspending all digital asset deposit and withdrawal services. The exchange transferred all remaining Solana network assets into cold storage to prevent additional unauthorized transactions. This move secured funds by taking them offline and away from internet-connected systems.

The platform initiated coordination with token issuers to freeze assets on-chain where possible. Upbit successfully froze approximately 12 billion won worth of Solayer tokens through this process. The exchange is continuing efforts to freeze other affected assets in cooperation with their respective project teams.

Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok issued a public notice apologizing for the inconvenience caused to users. He confirmed that the exchange identified the scale of losses immediately upon detecting the irregular transfers. The CEO stated that Upbit will use its own corporate assets to fully reimburse all affected customers.

Investigation and Security Review

Upbit launched a comprehensive security audit of all digital asset transfer systems following the breach. The exchange is examining wallet infrastructure across all supported blockchain networks. This systemwide review aims to identify any vulnerabilities that may have allowed the unauthorized access.

The platform is working with South Korean law enforcement agencies on the investigation. Authorities are tracing the flow of stolen funds across the blockchain. The exchange has asked users to report any suspicious activity through its customer support channels.

Upbit stated that deposit and withdrawal services will remain suspended until the security review is complete. The exchange plans to gradually restore these services once it confirms that all systems are secure. No timeline has been provided for when normal operations will resume.

The security incident comes as Dunamu faces a major corporate transition. The company is being absorbed into Naver Financial through a $10.3 billion stock-swap agreement. This deal represents one of the largest restructuring events in Dunamu’s history.

Upbit operates as South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. The platform serves millions of users in the country’s active crypto trading market.

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