Crypto Journalist
Amin Ayan
Share
Binance has pushed back against claims that it failed to act swiftly in freezing funds linked to last month’s Upbit hack, rejecting reports that it only partially complied with requests from South Korean authorities.
Key Takeaways:
- Binance denies claims that it delayed or partially complied with requests to freeze Upbit hack funds.
- The exchange says it acted immediately and continues to work with law enforcement on the case.
- South Korean authorities allege only a fraction of the stolen assets were frozen as hackers rapidly laundered the funds.
In a statement shared with Cryptonews, a Binance spokesperson said suggestions of a delayed or limited response were inaccurate.
“Binance’s security and investigations teams identified the incident and immediately took action to assist in freezing related transfers and mitigating further movements,” the spokesperson said.
Binance Says It Acted Promptly and Worked With Law Enforcement
The exchange added that it has been working closely with law enforcement and other relevant parties since the incident.
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and provide support as needed,” the spokesperson said, stressing that any claims suggesting Binance did not take prompt or effective action are “unsubstantiated and inaccurate.”
The response follows a report published last week citing South Korean investigators, who claimed Binance froze only a small portion of the funds stolen during the Upbit breach.
According to local media, authorities said roughly 17% of the assets flagged for freezing were ultimately locked down.
Investigators allege that the hackers behind the attack moved quickly, dispersing stolen funds across more than a thousand wallets within hours of the breach on Nov. 27.
Security analysts said the group used a combination of chain hopping, token swaps, and bridges to obscure transaction trails, a tactic that complicated recovery efforts.
Authorities said that a significant share of the laundered assets eventually reached service wallets on Binance.
Upbit and police reportedly requested an immediate freeze on around 470 million won (approximately $370,000) worth of Solana tokens believed to have entered the exchange.
Of that amount, about 80 million won (roughly $75,000) was frozen, with Binance citing the need for additional verification before taking broader action, per previous claims by Korean authorities.
Upbit Moves 99% of Customer Assets to Cold Storage After $30M Hack
As reported, Upbit is shifting nearly all customer assets into cold storage after hackers stole 44.5 billion won (about $30 million) from its Solana hot wallet, marking one of the strongest security responses yet by a major exchange.
Operator Dunamu said the platform will raise its cold wallet ratio to 99% and reduce hot wallet exposure to effectively zero, far above South Korea’s legal requirement that 80% of user funds be stored offline.
The exchange already held 98.33% of assets in cold storage at the end of October, the highest among domestic platforms, but accelerated its overhaul following the breach.
Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have launched an investigation, and local reports have cited early intelligence assessments that allegedly connect the intrusion to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
