South Korea’s Upbit Reports $36 Million Loss in Solana Hot-Wallet Breach
Analysis
Price Impact
HighA $36 million hot wallet breach on a major exchange like upbit, even with a reimbursement plan, creates significant security concerns and fud (fear, uncertainty, doubt) around the affected network (solana) and its ecosystem tokens. it raises questions about exchange security practices.
Trustworthiness
HighThe information is confirmed directly by upbit's ceo via a public notice, detailing the incident, affected assets, and the commitment to full user reimbursement.
Price Direction
BearishWhile upbit's commitment to fully reimburse affected users mitigates direct financial losses for individuals, the psychological impact of a security breach of this magnitude is typically bearish. it can lead to a temporary loss of confidence in the solana network's security (as its tokens were affected) and in centralized exchange hot wallet practices overall, potentially prompting some investors to de-risk.
Time Effect
ShortThe immediate aftermath is likely to see selling pressure due to fear. however, the full reimbursement plan and the quick response from upbit (moving funds to cold storage, coordinating freezes) are strong mitigating factors that should help stabilize prices relatively quickly and prevent a prolonged downturn specifically from this event.
Original Article:
Article Content:
In brief Upbit said irregular transfers on the Solana network drained about $36 million across multiple tokens, including BONK, JTO, SONIC, and USDC. The exchange moved remaining funds offline and is coordinating on-chain freezes with issuers after securing a portion of Solayer tokens. The CEO of Dunamu, Upbit’s parent, said the exchange will fully reimburse customers. Decrypt’s Art, Fashion, and Entertainment Hub. Discover SCENE South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, disclosed a security incident involving assets on the Solana network on Thursday, reporting losses of roughly $36 million as the platform moved to contain the breach. The exchange said it detected irregular withdrawals linked to a compromised hot-wallet address, prompting it to halt some services while investigators traced the flow of funds. “At around 04:42 on 2025-11-27, Upbit confirmed that a portion of Solana network assets (approximately 54 billion KRW worth) had been transferred to a wallet address not designated internally (an unknown external wallet),” a rough translation of Dunamu CEO Oh Kyung-seok’s public notice reads. Affected assets include meme coins such as Bonk (BONK), Moodeng (MOODENG), Official Trump (TRUMP), and decentralized finance tokens such as Sonic SVM (SONIC), Access Protocol (ACS), Jito (JTO), Solana (SOL), and Raydium (RAY), among other tokens such as Pudgy Penguin (PENGU). The list also includes Circle’s USD Coin (USDC). “The scale of the loss caused by the abnormal withdrawals was identified internally immediately upon confirmation,” Oh said, adding that Upbit will “fully compensate the entire amount with its own assets so that no impact occurs to members’ assets.” Upbit said it has initiated an emergency security review of all related networks and wallet systems immediately after detecting the irregular transfers. Per Oh’s notice, the exchange moved all remaining assets into cold storage to prevent additional abnormal withdrawals, and it is coordinating on-chain freeze attempts with relevant projects after successfully freezing a portion of Solayer (LAYER). Upbit added that broader deposit and withdrawal services will resume only after systemwide security checks are completed. The suspected hack comes as Dunamu, Upbit’s parent company, has been navigating one of its most consequential corporate transitions in years, with the firm set to be absorbed into Naver Financial under a $10.3 billion stock-swap agreement . Decrypt reached out to Dunamu for comment. This is a developing story. Daily Debrief Newsletter Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more. Your Email Get it! Get it!