The South Korean cryptocurrency exchange, UPbit, is showing suspicious activity which some people are linking with a potential hack. Over $50 million worth of Ethereum has been withdrawn from the exchange to an anonymous account, and all transactions have been stopped. The exchange has since released an official statement, assuring customers that it will cover all related losses with corporate funds.
The cryptocurrency exchange UPbit has stopped all withdrawals and deposits for the moment. The company is sending emails informing its customers that this is happening due to a server check.
A local report shows that the exchange could have been hacked. KRW60 billion (around $51 million) in cryptocurrency has been reportedly withdrawn from an UPbit wallet to an anonymous account. According to the report, 93% of the withdrawal was in Ethereum and the rest in BitTorrent Token (BTT).
Founded in 2017, UPbit has its fair share of users in South Korea, and similar suspicious news is attracting media attention.
Just a few hours after the incident, the company has issued an official statement. It appears that 342,000 ETH was stolen from the exchange’s hot wallet and transferred to an unknown wallet. The remaining transactions were reportedly transferred to UPbit’s cold wallet.
Lee Seok-woo, the CEO of the company operating UPbit, said that the exchange will cover all lost assets but it may take more time:
“To ensure that your assets are unharmed, 342,000 ETH transferred to unknown wallets will be covered by UPbit assets. We’re working on it, and I’ll tell you as soon as I’m done.
All cryptocurrencies in Hot Wallet have been transferred to Cold Wallet.
It is estimated that it will take at least two weeks for the deposit and withdrawal to resume. I’ll tell you again when this is done.”
The exchange also urged all clients to stop attempting to make deposits from the Ethereum address that noted the suspicious activity.