Binance Denies Claims of Slow Response in Upbit Hack Case
Binance has pushed back against reports suggesting it failed to act quickly in freezing funds linked to last month’s Upbit hack. The exchange rejected claims that it only partially complied with requests from South Korean authorities.
Key Takeaways:
Binance denies any delay or partial compliance in responding to the Upbit hack.
The exchange says it acted immediately and continues to cooperate with law enforcement.
South Korean authorities allege that only a small portion of the stolen funds were frozen due to rapid laundering by hackers.
A Binance spokesperson called suggestions of a delayed response “inaccurate and unsubstantiated.”
Binance: Action Taken Immediately
“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.
The exchange stressed that it has been working closely with law enforcement since the incident, monitoring the situation and providing support wherever needed.
The Upbit Hack and Fund Movement
Last month’s breach saw hackers quickly disperse stolen funds across more than a thousand wallets within hours. Analysts said the group used chain hopping, token swaps, and bridges to hide the trail, making recovery efforts more challenging.
Authorities reported that only about 17% of the stolen assets flagged for freezing were actually locked down. A significant portion of the laundered funds reportedly reached service wallets on Binance.
Upbit and police requested an immediate freeze on approximately 470 million won (around $370,000) in Solana tokens that were believed to have entered Binance. Of that, roughly 80 million won ($75,000) was frozen, with Binance noting that additional verification was required before taking wider action.
Upbit Tightens Security After $30 Million Hack
Following the breach, Upbit moved nearly all customer assets into cold storage. The platform plans to raise its cold wallet ratio to 99%, reducing hot wallet exposure to almost zero—well above South Korea’s legal requirement of 80% offline storage.
Before the hack, Upbit already had 98.33% of its assets in cold storage, the highest among domestic exchanges. The breach accelerated the platform’s security overhaul.
Ongoing Investigations
South Korean authorities are actively investigating the incident. Early intelligence reports reportedly link the attack to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.
