Binance Denies Korean Media Reports of Delayed Response to Upbit Hack

Binance has denied South Korean media reports claiming it responded slowly to the recent hack of major local exchange Upbit, a company spokesperson said Tuesday (Dec. 12). “Our security and investigation teams identified the incident immediately and took swift action to freeze relevant transfers, stopping further fund outflows,” the spokesperson stated. “Any claims we failed to act timely or effectively are baseless and inaccurate.” Earlier Tuesday, South Korean outlet KBS reported local police asked Binance to freeze stolen cryptocurrency linked to the Upbit hack—but the exchange only froze a portion of the requested amount. Upbit, South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, disclosed on Nov. 27 that it detected unusual withdrawals totaling roughly 54 billion won ($36 million) in Solana network-related assets, sent to unknown external wallets. On the day of the hack (Nov. 27), police confirmed some stolen funds flowed to Binance and requested the exchange freeze about 470 million won worth of Solana tokens. Binance, however, cited a need for “further fact verification” and only froze 17% of the requested amount (around 80 million won). The process was delayed by roughly 15 hours before the exchange completed the freeze and notified authorities, KBS reported. An Upbit spokesperson said the firm cannot comment on the KBS report but noted local law enforcement is actively investigating to identify the attacker.