Upbit, the South Korea-based crypto exchange, will now use more cold wallets due to the surge in hacking attempts since 2020. In the first half of 2023, hackers tried to breach crypto exchange Upbit about 160,000 times, which is more than double the attempts in the first half of 2021 as indicated by data from Upbit’s operator, Dunamo.
As reported by Yonhap News, Dunamo data indicated almost 8,400 hacking attempts in the second half of 2020.
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Following a 2019 hacking incident, Upbit, one of the top 20 cryptocurrency exchanges by spot trading volume, incurred a loss of $42.8 million. In response to this breach, Upbit took steps such as decentralizing its operational hot wallets to prevent future cyberattacks. Additionally, the exchange intends to expand its cold wallet holdings to more than 70%.
In late September, Upbit stopped Aptos token services after the platform failed to recognize a fake token, “ClaimAPTGift.com,” which reached 400,000 Aptos wallets, as reported by CoinTelegraph.
Based on CoinGecko data, Upbit boasts a 24-hour trading volume of around $1.4 billion while other major exchanges like Bithumb, Coinone, and Gopax report a trading volume of $665.6 million, $18.8 million, and $1.58 million respectively.
South Korean lawmaker Rep. Park Seong-jung, a member of the National Assembly’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) committee, believes that the Ministry of Science and ICT has a very vague role in overlooking the exchanges, Yonhap reported.
The Ministry should be upfront in addressing the issue and undertaking security tests. Also, the information security landscape should be prepared for cyberattacks, mainly for frequent hacking attempts on virtual exchanges, the lawmaker said.
Separately, Hong Kong-based exchange CoinEx incurred a $70 million hack in September 2023 after a private key was compromised. Meanwhile, Huobi Global’s HTX exchange lost $7.9 million after an exploit.
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