Korean Crypto Exchange Operator Airdrops NFTs to Raise Biodiversity Awareness

South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, suffered a security breach on Nov. 27 that resulted in the theft of 44.5 billion won ($30.4 million) in digital assets, all taken from the exchange’s hot wallets. The stolen tokens were all Solana-based, and Upbit CEO Oh Kyoung-suk said in a statement that no users will incur losses, as the company will cover the full amount with its own reserves.Photo by FlyD on UnsplashHot-wallet breach hits 24 tokensThe exchange said in a statement that the compromised tokens were transferred to an unknown external wallet at around 7:42 p.m. UTC on Nov. 26. In total, 24 cryptocurrencies were affected, all within the Solana ecosystem. The stolen assets ranged from infrastructure tokens such as Solana (SOL) to staking-related assets like Jito (JTO), along with the stablecoin USD Coin (USDC) and memecoins including Bonk (BONK), Moodeng (MOODENG), and Official Trump (TRUMP). According to Oh, the breach was followed by an emergency security review of the affected networks and wallets. He added that all remaining assets were moved to cold storage to prevent further unauthorized transfers. Oh also said the exchange is working to trace the stolen assets and block on-chain movements wherever possible, noting that Solayer (LAYER) tokens worth 2.3 billion won ($1.6 million) have already been frozen. Upbit is also reaching out to relevant projects and institutions for assistance. This marks Upbit’s second theft case. The first took place on Nov. 27, 2019, exactly six years ago to the day, according to News1. Authorities focus on Lazarus’ involvementFinancial authorities are investigating the incident, and North Korea’s Lazarus Group is being treated as the leading suspect, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported. Lazarus is also believed to have been behind the 58 billion won ($40 million) worth of Ethereum (ETH) stolen from Upbit in 2019. A government official told the paper that the latest breach did not appear to stem from a server intrusion but may have involved a stolen administrator account, allowing the attackers to impersonate internal staff and move assets—similar to the method used in the 2019 case. Security analysts echoed that assessment. One investigator said the stolen funds moved through exchange wallets before being mixed, a pattern often linked to Lazarus. He added that mixers, which are prohibited in Financial Action Task Force (FATF)-member jurisdictions, make tracing difficult and that attackers typically route assets through countries outside that framework, further pointing to North Korea. Following the incident, Upbit suspended deposits and withdrawals for all assets and said services will resume once security is fully verified. The halt has also affected trading dynamics on the exchange, with CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju noting that retail investors are fueling altcoin spikes as arbitrage bots remain offline. Dunamu, Naver set $6.8B growth planThe security crisis struck at a particularly sensitive moment for Upbit’s operator, Dunamu, overshadowing what was intended to be a celebratory corporate milestone. On that same day, Dunamu, Naver, and Naver Financial held a joint press conference to outline their global expansion strategy. Dunamu brings its blockchain and crypto infrastructure, Naver contributes its position as Korea’s dominant search engine, and Naver Financial adds its payment platform serving 34 million users. The event came after reports that Naver Financial and Dunamu had approved a merger plan through a comprehensive share swap, with the ratio set at 2.54 to 1. The three companies said they will combine their respective strengths to invest 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) over the next five years in building an ecosystem centered on Web3 and artificial intelligence (AI).During the press conference, Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said no decisions have been made on a Nasdaq listing for the newly combined Naver Financial–Dunamu entity or on whether it might eventually merge with Naver, according to TechM. She said dual listings remain a matter requiring national consensus. Choi also noted that while Naver Financial is a Naver subsidiary, Dunamu is the larger partner, and a later merger between the combined entity and Naver is unlikely.

Binance Collaborates with Thai Police to Bust $277 Million Crypto ScamIn a crackdown on cryptocurrency-related crime, Binance, the world’s largest global exchange, has partnered with Thailand’s Royal Thai Police to aid them in dismantling a major criminal network behind a crypto scam.Photo by Dan Freeman on UnsplashOperation “Trust No One”According to a blog post published by the exchange, the operation, code-named “Trust No One,” has not only resulted in the arrest of five key members of the syndicate but has also seized assets worth a staggering $277 million. Importantly, the operation is likely to offer restitution opportunities for more than 3,200 victims.Binance collaborated closely with the Cyber Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) and the United States’ Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat these illicit activities. Police Lieutenant Colonel Thanatus Kangruambutr, an inspector at CCIB, expressed his appreciation for Binance’s involvement, underscoring the exchange’s role in the fight against scams and cybercrimes.Successful collaborationsTigran Gambaryan, Binance’s Head of Financial Crime Compliance, reaffirmed the exchange’s commitment to partnering with authorities worldwide to restore trust in the digital asset ecosystem. This operation adds to Binance’s growing list of successful collaborations in its efforts to combat crypto-related crimes, following the recovery and freezing of $450,000 in stolen assets linked to the Curve Finance hack in 2022.In a separate case, Binance’s investigative team played a pivotal role in exposing a major cryptocurrency scam orchestrated by an extensive network of international criminal organizations. This investigation resulted in the arrest of suspects across 30 different locations in Bangkok and the provinces of Samut Prakan and Udon Thani. Binance provided critical information that facilitated these arrests, even sending an investigator to Thailand to support the process of obtaining arrest warrants.This collaborative effort empowered the Royal Thai Police to confiscate illicit assets, which included 16 opulent residences, 12 high-end vehicles, and 16 million Thai Baht (approximately $440,000) in cash.Notably, Binance’s proactive cooperation with law enforcement agencies has yielded an impressive average response time of just three days, surpassing the customary response times of traditional financial institutions. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the company stated: “Our recent support helped [the Royal Thai Police] to conclude two separate investigations, leading to the arrests of criminals behind major crypto scams.”Ongoing issueCryptocurrency scams have been on the rise in Thailand, posing a substantial financial threat to its residents. Last month Thai authorities detained five foreigners due to their involvement in a $76 million crypto-related scam.In August, Thailand’s Ministry of Digital Economy and Society (MDES) issued Meta (the company behind Facebook) with a warning due to what it deemed to be an inadequate response by the social media giant in Thailand to the prevalence of crypto-related fraudulent ads on the platform.Binance has been active in collaborating with law enforcement in various jurisdictions to combat crypto-related crime. Over the last three years, the exchange has actively cooperated with and provided assistance in more than 103,000 law enforcement investigations worldwide.Although Thailand has witnessed a surge in cryptocurrency-related scams, the collaborative efforts between the Royal Thai Police and Binance serve as a commendable model for addressing these challenges going forward.

South Korea's central bank governor has called for tokenizing government bonds and other assets, telling global peers that moving sovereign debt onto a shared digital ledger could reinforce monetary policy and financial stability. Speaking at the European Central Bank's annual forum in Sintra, Portugal, Bank of Korea Governor Hyun Song Shin said central banks should look beyond tokenizing money and deposits to assets such as government bonds and equities, according to Korea Economic Daily TV. He made the case in a paper titled "A unified ledger in practice: lessons from Project Hangang," based on the BOK's pilot of the same name. Shin described a unified ledger as a blueprint for a future monetary system: central bank money, bank deposits and assets sharing one programmable platform. In an asset trade, payment and settlement sit on that single platform and clear at once, so ownership changes hands the instant payment is made.Photo by Markus Winkler on UnsplashTokenized bonds as a policy toolIn the pilot's first phase, launched in October 2023, the BOK and commercial banks issued a wholesale central bank digital currency and tokenized bank deposits to test the concept, which is drawn from the Bank for International Settlements. Shin said the exercise showed deposit tokens could serve as a new means of payment, and that programmable rules could stop funds being misused the moment a transaction is made. Putting sovereign bonds on such a ledger, he added, would reinforce the bank's key mandates of monetary policy and financial stability. A second phase, due in the second half of this year, will apply those programmable features to government spending, beginning with electric-vehicle charging subsidies and public-sector expenses. Shin also floated linking the system to Project Agora, a cross-border settlement effort backed by seven central banks, to clear foreign-exchange and securities trades in a single step and widen international use of the Korean won. Regulators eye exchange banking rulesBack home, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) moved on two fronts of its own. The regulator has begun canvassing won-based exchanges and their partner banks about the practice of tying each exchange to a single bank for real-name accounts, Financial News reported. At issue is whether the current setup could handle an influx of institutions as authorities prepare to open the market to companies. Currently, crypto exchange Upbit works only with Kbank, and Bithumb only with KB Kookmin. Regulators are now weighing whether to loosen this one-to-one arrangement, letting one exchange use several banks or one bank serve several platforms, and separately whether to route crypto services through securities firms' trading apps. The FSC also referred two manipulation cases to prosecutors, Maeil Business Newspaper reported. In the first, a whale spent tens of billions of won (tens of millions of dollars) to corner about half the global supply of a token listed at home and abroad, pumping its price on an overseas venue over roughly two months before using arbitrage to lure Korean buyers. The trader lost money offshore but booked bigger gains at home, concentrating the damage on local investors. In the second, a trader loaded up on a domestically issued "kimchi coin," then used an API to fire repeated buy and sell orders within a single second and posted inflated bids to push the price up before selling into the demand. The FSC urged investors not to chase coins that spike without clear cause, warned of pump-and-dump schemes, and said it would step up disclosure of activity by large holders and sharpen alerts for trading concentrated in a few accounts.