Upbit hit with $37 million loss following Solana wallet breach

Crypto exchange Upbit suffered a $37 million hack after one of its Solana (SOL) wallets was compromised. The exchange halted withdrawals and deposits on its platform following the incident.

Upbit suffers $37 million hack via its Solana wallet

South Korea's largest crypto exchange, Upbit, suffered a security breach that resulted in the loss of roughly 54 billion KRW, or $36.8 million, according to a Thursday statement. 

The exchange suspended deposits and withdrawals shortly after detecting what it described as an abnormal outflow of assets on one of its wallets via the Solana network.

The affected assets span a wide range of Solana-based tokens, including meme coins such as Bonk (BONK), Moodeng (MOODENG), and Official Trump (TRUMP), as well as DeFi assets like Sonic SVM (SONIC), Access Protocol (ACS), Jito (JTO), Raydium (RAY) and native SOL.

Upbit outlined a series of immediate containment measures it followed in response to the breach. The exchange said it moved all digital assets into cold storage to block any further unauthorized transfers and began coordinating with law enforcement and blockchain partners to freeze compromised funds.

These efforts have so far led to the successful seizure of assets linked to the Solayer (LAYER) token valued at roughly 12 billion KRW. Upbit added that it has also initiated a comprehensive review of its digital asset transfer infrastructure to identify and address any vulnerabilities.

The exchange noted that withdrawal services will be restored gradually once all security checks are complete. It also encouraged customers to remain vigilant and report any unusual account activity to its support team.

"To prevent any damage to member assets, the entire amount will be covered by Upbit's holdings," Oh Kyung-seok, CEO of Dunamu, said in a statement.

The exchange reportedly revised its loss to around $30.43 million (44.5 billion KRW) tied to Solana-based assets, while the amount successfully frozen has been updated to approximately $1.57 million (2.3 billion KRW).

The incident has drawn the attention of South Korea's Virtual Asset Supervision Bureau, which launched an immediate on-site inspection of Upbit, a review expected to continue through next Friday.

Upbit's hack adds to a series of exploits on crypto exchanges this year. The incident is notable as it occurred a day after Naver Financial announced a $10.3 billion all-stock acquisition of Dunamu, Upbit's parent company. The deal is expected to be completed in June 2026.