Upbit Halts Solana Transfers After ~54B KRW ($36.8M) Hot‑Wallet Breach
South Korea’s largest exchange Upbit halted Solana deposits and withdrawals after a Nov. 27 early‑morning hot‑wallet breach moved about 54 billion KRW (~$36.8M) to an unknown address. The attacker removed SOL, USDC and multiple Solana‑ecosystem tokens (including BONK, JUP, ORCA, PYTH, RAY, JTO, TRUMP and RENDER). Upbit detected abnormal activity at 04:42 KST, froze remaining Solana deposits/withdrawals, moved remaining Solana assets to cold storage, and launched a full security review with on‑chain tracing. Project teams and analytics partners helped freeze roughly 12 billion KRW of tokens; the remainder is under active monitoring. The incident affects a single Solana hot wallet; other networks and core systems remain online. Upbit said it will cover losses from its own assets to protect users. The breach occurs amid heightened South Korean regulatory scrutiny and a major stock‑swap deal at Upbit’s parent Dunamu, increasing operational and compliance risk concerns. Market reaction was muted: SOL traded near $140–$145 with limited downside, though analysts warn of short‑term caution and note potential technical support in the $80–$95 range. For traders: expect temporary Solana liquidity and withdrawal disruption, possible on‑chain recovery or sanctions due to traceability, and elevated exchange risk premia while investigations proceed.
Neutral
The immediate market impact on SOL appears limited — price traded near $140–$145 and showed only modest downside after the breach — suggesting traders view this as an exchange hot‑wallet compromise rather than a protocol‑level failure. Short term, expect increased volatility and reduced liquidity for Solana markets due to withdrawal freezes and operational uncertainty; traders may reduce position sizes or widen spreads. On‑chain traceability and frozen assets raise the possibility of partial recoveries, which could limit prolonged sell pressure. Longer term, unless evidence emerges of a Solana protocol exploit, the incident should not materially change SOL’s fundamentals; market confidence could recover once Upbit completes its audit and returns to normal operations. Overall the event is a negative operational risk for centralized exchanges but neutral for SOL price trajectory if containment and reimbursement proceed as stated.