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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.

bitFlyer Moves to Comply With Travel RulebitFlyer, a Tokyo-based Bitcoin exchange and marketplace, has taken steps to comply with the travel rule, an anti-money laundering measure promoted by Paris-based global financial crime watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).The rule necessitates the exchange to pass on customer data to a recipient exchange where the crypto transaction involves a value of greater than $3,000.Photo by Ivan Babydov on PexelsImplementing TRUST technologyThe company announced on Tuesday that these measures, which went into effect in the afternoon local time, include restrictions on transfers from the exchange to platforms that do not comply with the Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology (TRUST). This technology was initiated by Coinbase, the US-based crypto exchange, to ensure that firms adhere to FATF’s requirements. The mechanism is a product of the collaboration of Coinbase alongside leading crypto exchanges such as Kraken, Gemini, BitMEX, Bittrex, Okcoin, and others.To enforce these measures, bitFlyer has established notification requirements for receiving and sending crypto to TRUST-compliant platforms in a list of 21 countries. The list includes Japan, Israel, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, the Bahamas, and Switzerland. Additionally, bitFlyer has limited transfers to compliant platforms in these countries to TRUST-compatible crypto assets such as bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), and several ERC-20 tokens.On the other hand, transfers to and from countries not on the list, as well as transfers to private self-custodied wallets, can be conducted using any crypto asset available on the bitFlyer platform.Compliance with Japanese legislationWhile the exchange refers to travel rule compliance relative to 21 countries, it’s unlikely to be a coincidence that the Japan-headquartered company has implemented this compliance measure a couple of days before Japan is set to introduce a FATF travel rule compliance requirement which comes into effect on June 1.These measures align with Japan’s recent commitment to implementing FATF’s travel rule, which requires the sharing of crypto transaction information between platforms. The watchdog had urged advanced economies in the G7 to take the lead in combating money laundering through digital assets.Increasing regulatory demandsIt is worth noting that bitFlyer’s US unit recently faced a fine from US financial regulator, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), due to its failure to meet cybersecurity requirements. The incident highlighted the increasing scrutiny and regulatory demands placed on crypto exchanges to ensure the security and compliance of their operations.By aligning itself with the FATF Travel Rule and implementing these restrictions, bitFlyer aims to enhance its anti-money laundering efforts and contribute to global efforts to combat financial crimes in the crypto space, helping to steer itself clear of potential issues with global regulators.As the crypto industry continues to evolve, regulatory frameworks and standards are being established to address concerns regarding money laundering and illicit activities. Compliance with such regulations is essential for crypto exchanges to foster trust among users, attract institutional investors, and contribute to the overall maturation and legitimacy of the crypto ecosystem.

Coinone reports decline in customer inquiries due to improved user convenienceKorean crypto exchange Coinone revealed on Tuesday (local time) that the number of customer inquiries sent to its support center has nearly halved since it began introducing various updates to boost user convenience in the second quarter of this year. The exchange explained that it has been consistently collecting and analyzing customer feedback and then applying these insights to enhance its products and services.Photo by Petr Macháček on UnsplashTaking initiative to improve user experienceA recent analysis of voice of the customer (VOC) data collected by the support center up until this year’s third quarter showed that the overall volume of inquiries began to decrease in Q2, and the total number of inquiries in Q3 subsequently decreased by 24.7% compared to Q2. Notably, in September, the inquiries decreased by a whopping 45.5% compared to April. This translates to an average monthly decrease of about 11%.This trend can be attributed to ramped-up efforts for product convenience starting in Q2, which has had a positive impact on reducing customer inquiries. Earlier in May, during a short period of transition when Coinone changed its affiliated bank from Nonghyup Bank to KakaoBank, the exchange released notices with relevant information regarding transactions, deposits and withdrawals that made it easier for customers to navigate the transition. The number of related inquiries subsequently decreased by 86%.Furthermore, in June, queries regarding password recovery and mobile device authentication reset decreased by 58% and 65%, respectively, after Coinone provided simple guidelines for inactive customers to reset their passwords without having to contact the support center. Submissions to the support center for assistance with fiat deposits and withdrawals also dropped after the exchange added Naver as a channel for two-factor authentication (2FA) to its account setup system.Additional updatesOther noteworthy updates include the Coinone app version 3.0, which came with a new updated interface with five tabs — transactions, trading prices, charts, market prices and other information — for users to explore.