Leading South Korean crypto exchange, Upbit, announced on Thursday that it has suffered a hack to the value of 44.5 billion Korean Won (approximately $30 million USD).
On its website, Upbit posted a notice in Korean giving clearer information about an “abnormal withdrawal situation”, in other words a hack, that occurred on November 27 at 04:42 Korean local time.
Upbit confirmed that most of the coins stolen were Solana-based, including BONK, JUP, PENGU, PYTH and Solana. Some other coins included TRUMP and USDC.
Upbit has also frozen deposits and withdrawals to ensure no further funds are stolen while it investigates the full extent of the loss. Trading continues as normal, it is deposits and withdrawals that are suspended.
History Repeats Itself Exactly 6 Years Later
This isn’t the first time Upbit has been hacked, back in 2019 in fact exactly 6 years ago on November 27 2019, Upbit was hacked for over $51 million Dollars worth of Ethereum.
Upbit stated at the time that deposits and withdrawals will be enabled in approximately 2 weeks, however it was not until January 13 2020 that withdrawals were resumed, almost 7 weeks later.
Upbit later confirmed that North Korea’s Lazarus group were involved in the Ethereum hack in 2019 and it is suspected that they are also involved in the Solana 2025 hack.
Bad Timing As Upbit Prepares for Nasdaq Listing
There’s never a good time to get hacked, but the timing was particularly bad as Upbit had announced a merger with Korean tech giant Naver Financial. Upbit is also targeting an IPO on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
The news of the hack will unsettle investors however given the scale of the hack was relatively small it will motivate Upbit to improve their security systems to prevent any larger future hacks.
What Steps Are Upbit Taking?
Upbit stated in their notice that they will reimburse all affected users and apologized for the incident.
They are also taking steps to track down the stolen assets, working with authorities to try to freeze and recover as many tokens as possible.
Upbit will provide further updates on when deposits and withdrawals will resume, stating that they would only do so once safety is ensured.
Self-Custody Crypto Wallets
With Upbit now having been hacked twice, as well as many other top crypto exchanges such as Coinbase suffering an internal data breach and Bybit being hacked earlier in 2025, it’s clear that exchanges are a prime target for hackers.
The large amounts of crypto stored by exchanges effectively make them a honeypot for hackers.
It’s advisable to not store your crypto for a long period on an exchange for this reason. On top of that, an exchange’s first response after a hack is to suspend withdrawals, if you need that money for an emergency you will not be able to withdraw it. The exchange effectively controls your crypto.
That’s why many investors choose to take back control and store their crypto in a dedicated self-custody wallet so that they can access it anytime and anywhere.
Leading options like Best Wallet, for instance, offer a powerful shield against exchange vulnerabilities, putting ownership and security directly in the hands of investors. But as with every high quality self-custodial tool, Best Wallet doesn’t leave the entire security burden up to users.
It has already integrated cutting-edge features like Fireblocks, biometrics, 2FA, and a whole lot more to provide better protection against the kind of attacks common with exchanges.
Thankfully, Best Wallet’s robust security system doesn’t mean it has compromised other core aspects, particularly in terms of functionality and accessibility. Alongside traditional wallet features like secure storage and fiat payments, Best Wallet takes things even further by offering cross-chain swaps, portfolio management, staking perks, and a token launchpad.
According to some experts like ClayBro, Best Wallet could become one of the best crypto wallets of 2025.
Visit Best Wallet
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