South Korea's leading cryptocurrency exchange, Upbit was hacked, hackers stole 342 000 ETH from hot wallets connected to the Internet.
While the incident marks another major robbery in the world of cryptography, the company’s management says it will cover the losses estimated at 52 million dollars.
According to ad ,
“At approximately 13:06 on November 27, 2019 (KST), 342 ETH was sent from Upbit Korea's Ethereum hot wallet to an anonymous wallet address of 000xa0AEadF09871Ca4994f12c5b0BBd6056d1c343.
"We took immediate steps to protect your assets, and investor assets were not lost."
Trading on the exchange is still allowed, but all deposits and withdrawals are frozen for two weeks.
As the crypto community speculates on the likelihood that the Upbit hack will turn out to be an internal work, blockchain analysts are tracking stolen Ethereum, which is already on its way to new wallets. Since the Ethereum network is open and public, anyone can view any address containing digital assets. Quick search in Blockchain.info shows that at the time of writing, the hacker's wallet has a balance of $ 9,12 after several transfers.
According to Peacshield researcher Chiachi Wu, the stolen ETH is divided into four new addresses, and the hacker is obviously trying to cash out the money.
342 k #ETH from #UpbitHack parking here: 0xa09871AEadF4994Ca12f5c0b6056BBd1d343c029
- Chiachih Wu (@chiachih_wu) November 27, 2019
The CEO of the leading crypto exchange Binance says that he is working to ensure that hackers do not cash out money through a popular trading platform.
We will work with Upbit and other industry players to ensure any hacked funds that may make their way to Binance are immediately frozen.
STAY #SAFU
- CZ Binance (@cz_binance) November 27, 2019
Meanwhile, the theory that hacking was an internal work designed to thwart Upbit's tax obligations caused controversy.
Writes in Twitter user Jeff Pike,
“I heard an interesting conspiracy that exchanges are hacking themselves to avoid taxes. On June 8, 2018, the Korean Tax Service ordered Bithumb to pay $ 30 million in tax. -> 12 days later Bithumb was hacked for $ 35 million.
Upbit was ordered to pay 50-60 million in taxes on January 8, 2019. -> Today Upbit got 50 million hack. "
Answers Zack Voell, a technical writer at Blockstream and a former researcher at the cryptocurrency firm Messari,
«“Of course, after the announcement of the“ hacking ”, we may lose tens or even hundreds of customers (maybe even more!), But we do not need to pay taxes! Worth it."
Hacking is the same as The adoption of this week, a bill by the South Korean National Policy Committee to create a new regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.
The new structure will require crypto businesses in South Korea to register with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the Financial Services Commission, obtain an Information Security Management System certification from the state-owned Korea Internet and Security Agency, and regularly report. These requirements are intended to ensure compliance with anti-money laundering regulations and increase industry transparency.
However, given recent hacks, the security of consumer funds remains a major concern. According to local media reports Yonhap news Upbit reported damage to the police and the Internet Agency (KISA), and a joint investigation is underway.
While report Korea Joongang Daily, before the hack, said that cryptocurrency is one step closer to Korea’s legitimacy, Yonhap News offers to heighten concerns.
An industry spokesman says:
"We are sensitive to security issues that arise in anticipation of the adoption by Parliament of an amendment to a special bill, which is the first step towards the adoption of cryptocurrency exchange rules."