South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume has lost nearly $50 million worth of Ethereum (ETH) in a hacking incident. Upbit CEO Lee Seok-woo said that the exchange had an unauthorized transfer of 342,000 ETH from its hot wallet when he informed investors of the reason for Upbit’s unscheduled suspension of crypto-asset deposits and withdrawals.
342,000 ETH Moved To Unknown Wallet
In a statement released on Wednesday, Upbit revealed that the breach occurred a little past 1 PM on Nov. 27, and 342,000 ETH were moved from the Upbeat Ethereum Hot Wallet to an unknown wallet address 0xa09871AEadF4994Ca12f5c0b6056BBd1d343c029. You could find it on Coinspace Explorer.
Lee notably called the incident an abnormal transaction on its wallets, and not a hack. He nonetheless apologized to investors for the inconvenience caused by the incident and said that the exchange took immediate actions after the breach was detected to protect customers’ assets.
He also assured that no investors' assets were lost and promised that the exchange will protect its users’ assets. He said that corporate assets can immediately cover the loss, which is roughly equivalent to $49 million.
As for deposits and withdrawals, Lee said that these transactions will resume in about two weeks, and users will be updated of further developments.
Upbit called on the cryptocurrency community’s support to block deposits from the anonymous address.
“Also, we ask for the crypto community's support in blocking deposits from the anonymous addressIf you have any information regarding this transaction or anonymous wallet, please contact our hot line (Upbit Login → Support → Submit Request → Report),” the statement reads.
Biggest Cryptocurrency Theft In South Korea
The cryptocurrency theft is to date the biggest in South Korea. Police data show that the country already had eight cryptocurrency exchange hacks that occurred between July 2016 and March 2019, which resulted in losses amounting to nearly $140 million.
Lawmakers in the East Asian nation are now proposing a bill to mandate security regulations for cryptocurrency exchanges, albeit building a regulatory framework poses some challenges because cryptocurrencies are not yet recognized as a legal tender in South Korea.
Binance To Freeze Hacked Funds
Following the incident, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that the Malta-based exchange will work with Upbit and other industry players so hacked funds that may make their way to Binance will be immediately frozen.
Read more at: https://coinspace.com/news/exchanges/upbit-loses-nearly-50-million-worth-etherium-biggest-cryptocurrency-theft-south-korea