Binance Denies Slow Response Allegations Following $30M Upbit Solana Hack

Binance has issued a firm denial against accusations from South Korean authorities that it delayed or partially complied with requests to freeze stolen funds following the November 27 hack of Upbit's Solana hot wallet. The exchange, in a statement, labeled the claims as "unsubstantiated and inaccurate," asserting that its security and investigations teams identified the incident and "immediately took action" to assist in freezing related transfers and monitor hacker activity.

South Korean investigators had claimed that Binance froze only 17% of the assets flagged for freezing. Authorities reported requesting a freeze on approximately 470 million won (roughly $370,000) worth of Solana tokens that had entered Binance service wallets, but only about 80 million won (roughly $75,000) was ultimately frozen. Investigators alleged that Binance required additional verification before taking broader action, a process the hackers exploited.

The breach resulted in a loss of 44.5 billion won (approximately $30 million) for Upbit. In response, the exchange's operator, Dunamu, has accelerated a security overhaul, announcing it will now store 99% of customer assets in cold wallets. This move eliminates hot wallet exposure and far exceeds South Korea's legal requirement of 80% offline storage. Upbit had already held 98.33% of assets in cold storage at the end of October.

Investigators detailed that the hackers employed sophisticated laundering tactics, including chain hopping, token swaps, and cross-chain bridges, to disperse the stolen funds across thousands of wallets within hours of the breach. This rapid obfuscation complicated tracking and recovery efforts. Early intelligence assessments have reportedly linked the attack to North Korea's Lazarus Group, a notorious entity with a history of targeting crypto exchanges.

Binance maintains that it has been in active engagement with law enforcement since the event, followed all required verification procedures to avoid wrongful account freezes, and continues to monitor the situation closely.