South Korean exchange GOPAX suspended cryptocurrency deposits, standard withdrawals and trading on November 6 after receiving a threatening email from an individual claiming to be a hacker. The exchange said no breach or attempted theft had been confirmed and described the shutdown as a precautionary measure to protect customer assets while it moves cryptocurrency holdings into offline cold wallets.
Deposits and standard withdrawals were halted at 2:55 p.m. local time (05:55 UTC), and trading was suspended at 3:53 p.m. (06:53 UTC), with all outstanding unfilled orders canceled. GOPAX said it acted on the recommendation of financial authorities and has not announced a timetable for restoring normal services. Customers can still request withdrawals through the exchange's customer support center, but those requests require manual verification and approval, likely causing delays.
The security response follows intensified scrutiny in South Korea after the $6.3 billion Binance hot-wallet theft on October 29, which the FBI linked to North Korean operators. Regulators held emergency meetings and recommended that domestic exchanges raise the share of customer crypto held in cold storage, conduct round-the-clock deposit and withdrawal monitoring, and maintain additional incident-response reserves. The current minimum cold-wallet requirement under South Korean law is 80%, but authorities are considering raising it to 99%.
FSC data from September showed GOPAX held 80.54% of customer assets in cold storage, the lowest among major Korean won exchanges. Upbit reported 99.17%, Bithumb 94.76%, Coinone 85%, and Digital X 82.79%. GOPAX is majority-owned by Binance, which holds more than a 67% stake. Coinone separately warned customers against sending crypto to GOPAX because incoming transfers may not be credited normally while the suspension remains in place.
