Upbit freezes Solana withdrawals after $38mln exploit – What we know

Key Takeaways

Which assets were affected in the hack?

SOL, USDC, and several DeFi and meme tokens, including BONK, JUP, RAY, RENDER, ORCA, and PYTH.

How did Upbit respond?

The exchange froze Solana-related services, launched a security audit, and pledged to fully compensate all user losses.

Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, has been hit by a major security scare after detecting unauthorized withdrawals worth roughly 54 billion KRW ($36–38 million) in Solana-based assets.

‘We will cover the entire loss’

The funds moved to an unidentified external wallet, prompting an immediate freeze on all Solana deposits and withdrawals.

The incident, confirmed by Upbit on the 27th of November, marks one of the most significant wallet compromises the platform has faced. Of course, it raises new questions about security across one of the country’s biggest trading hubs.

Remarking on which the team noted,

“We immediately identified the extent of the digital asset outflow caused by the abnormal withdrawals and will cover the entire amount with Upbit assets to ensure no damage to members’ assets.”

Upbit’s immediate response to the breach was swift and defensive.

The exchange suspended all deposits and withdrawals across the Solana [SOL] network to prevent further outflows while it carried out a full security audit.

On top of that, investigators began tracing the stolen assets across Solana-based tokens.

Tokens affected across Solana ecosystem

Alongside SOL and USDC, the attackers also drained popular DeFi and meme tokens such as Bonk [BONK], Jupiter [JUP], Raydium [RAY], Render [RENDER], Orca [ORCA], and Pyth Network [PYTH].

The breadth of affected tokens suggested direct exposure of Upbit’s hot-wallet infrastructure, which manages real-time withdrawals and active trading liquidity.

However, the exchange said it successfully froze some assets, including a tranche of Solayer during on-chain response efforts.

Solana price action

Despite the scale of the hack, Solana’s price remained surprisingly stable.

The asset continued to climb, trading at $143.67 after a 3.11% gain in the past 24 hours, according to CoinMarketCap.

This resilience indicated that the market viewed the attack as an Upbit-specific vulnerability rather than a systemic issue within the Solana ecosystem.

More such incidents

This incident arrived exactly six years after Upbit lost 342,000 Ethereum [ETH] – worth roughly $50 million at the time – in a major hacking incident.

And, by October 2024, investigators recovered only 4.8 Bitcoin [BTC] with help from Swiss authorities.

South Korea’s crypto exchanges: winners and losers

This followed a recent analysis by AMBCrypto wherein South Korea’s crypto market was found to be clearly drifting toward a two-tier system.

Giants like Upbit and Bithumb continue to surge toward IPOs and higher valuations, while smaller players such as Coinone are forced to sell assets just to stay operational.