The affair quickly took a diplomatic turn. After the Upbit hack, Binance is accused in Seoul of having frozen only a small part of the stolen funds. The exchange strongly disputes this version and claims to have acted immediately.
In brief
- Binance denies delaying after the Upbit hack and claims to have frozen suspicious flows in the early hours, in conjunction with the authorities.
- South Korean investigators say a limited portion of the funds were blocked, while hackers quickly dispersed assets via swaps and cross-chain bridges.
- Upbit shifts 99% of customer funds to cold storage, while the controversy continues and Bitcoin reserves on Binance reach a five-year low.
Binance defends itself: “We acted without delay”
Binance strengthens its ties with Trump by promoting a stablecoin. At the same time, the exchange must respond to a more sensitive controversy: its reaction after the Upbit hack. In a statement, a Binance spokesperson called the accusations inaccurate and unfounded.
According to the company, its teams detected suspicious movements in the early hours and blocked transfers linked to the hack. Binance says it acted immediately to freeze transactions, limit movements and cooperate with local South Korean authorities.
This response follows local reports claiming that Binance only froze around 17% of reported funds. A figure that the company considers misleading. According to Seoul, the hackers used more than a thousand wallets to quickly launder money, making freezing and tracing difficult.
A sophisticated hack, an express whitening
The hack, which occurred on November 27, targeted Upbit's Solana hot wallet. In a few hours, the attackers dispersed $30 million via chain hopping, swaps and cross-chain bridges. These methods evoke structured groups; South Korean media cite Lazarus, already linked to crypto attacks.
Investigators say approximately 470 million won, or nearly $370,000 in Solana tokens, were reported to have passed through Binance. Still according to these same sources, the authorities only froze 80 million won, or approximately $75,000. Binance, for its part, disputes the interpretation and refers to a classic point in this type of case: certain requests require additional verifications before extending a freeze on a larger scale.
Upbit tightens security after attack
In the process, Upbit announced moving 99% of customer funds to cold storage, well above South Korean regulatory requirements which impose a minimum of 80%. The platform, already known to be cautious, stored 98.33% of its assets offline before the incident, but is now accelerating its shift to reduce the exposure of hot wallets almost to zero.
Operator Dunamu presents this change as one of the strictest responses seen at a major exchange. But the investigation continues and the fault line does not budge: after the Upbit hack, Binance claims to have reacted immediately, while the South Korean authorities believe that only part of the funds were frozen in time. In this climate of distrust, another signal is fueling tensions: Bitcoin reserves on Binance have also just fallen to their lowest level in five years.
Maximize your Tremplin.io experience with our 'Read to Earn' program! For every article you read, earn points and access exclusive rewards. Sign up now and start earning benefits.
