Share this article
Upbit Exchange Resumes Ether Services Months After $49M Hack
Upbit said users will need to create new wallet addresses to resume trading.
By Paddy Baker
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:08 p.m. Published Jan 14, 2020, 1:30 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
South Korea-based Upbit has restarted ether wallet services nearly two months after hackers made off with $49 million of the cryptocurrency.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The exchange recently announced that following an upgrade to its wallet security system, the platform is once more able to support ETH deposits and withdrawals. A tweet indicated the services had become available soon after 09:00 UTC Monday.
Traders will need to create a new wallet address to which ETH held on the exchange will be automatically deposited, the firm said.
On Nov. 26, Upbit confirmed an "abnormal transaction" had resulted in the exchange losing more than 342,000 ETH from its hot wallet, which at the time was worth approximately $49 million.
The exchange transferred all remaining digital assets into cold storage as a precaution. Although user funds had not been affected, CEO Lee Seok-woo said in a statement following the attack that Upbit would suspend all trading functions temporarily.
Days later, hackers divided the stolen ETH among several wallet addresses. One analyst suggested the group may be sending small test amounts through rival exchange Huobi in an attempt to launder the funds.
In its announcement, Upbit requested users delete their previous addresses, reiterating that wallets created before the hack could not be used: "The recovery of ETH sent to previous addresses from now could be long and costly process," the exchange warned.
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Rollercoaster bitcoin price moves end up liquidating $1.7 billion in bullish crypto bets
More than $1.7 billion in leveraged positions were liquidated in 24 hours as bitcoin fell to $81,000, with long bets accounting for nearly all the damage amid macro jitters and Fed chair speculation.
What to know:
- More than $1.68 billion in leveraged crypto positions were liquidated in 24 hours, with about 267,000 traders forced out of trades.
- Long positions accounted for nearly 93 percent of the wipeout, led by roughly $780 million in bitcoin and $414 million in ether liquidations.
- Analysts say the sell-off was driven less by new bearish sentiment than by overcrowded leverage unwinding, flushing out speculative excess and reducing forced flows in the market.
Top Stories
