Upbit Reimburses Users After $30 Million Solana Asset Hack

Global: Upbit Reimburses Users After $30 Million Solana Asset Hack

South Korea’s cryptocurrency exchange Upbit disclosed that a cyber intrusion resulted in the theft of roughly $30 million worth of assets built on the Solana blockchain. The breach was reported shortly after it occurred, and the exchange used its own reserves to compensate affected customers while successfully freezing about $1.77 million of the stolen funds.

Scope of the Theft

The compromised assets included a variety of Solana‑based tokens, though the specific coins were not enumerated in the public statement. Upbit’s security team identified the loss shortly after the unauthorized transfer and initiated containment procedures.

Recovery Measures

In response to the incident, Upbit allocated internal funds to fully reimburse users whose balances were impacted. Concurrently, the platform worked with blockchain analytics providers to trace the movement of the stolen assets, resulting in the freezing of $1.77 million before the funds could be further dispersed.

Attribution Speculation

Some observers have suggested that the North Korean state‑sponsored group known as Lazarus may have been involved, citing the group’s historical focus on cryptocurrency targets. Upbit has not confirmed any attribution, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Historical Context

The hack arrives exactly six years after Upbit experienced a separate breach in which 342,000 ETH—valued at approximately $50 million at the time—were stolen. That earlier incident prompted significant regulatory scrutiny and led to heightened security protocols across the exchange.

Regulatory and Industry Response

Industry analysts note that the rapid reimbursement and partial asset freeze demonstrate an increasingly proactive stance by exchanges in handling large‑scale crypto thefts. Regulators in South Korea have previously called for stricter oversight of digital asset platforms, a trend that may intensify following repeated security failures.

This report is based on information from Web3 Is Going Great, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 (CC BY 3.0). Analysis provided by Web3 Is Going Great.