Upbit was affected once more and really these days it seems like every couple of months there is an another story in crypto news and most people just accept it as usual now. This time, approximately 54 billion won was lost, which works out to about 36 or 37 million dollars disappearing suddenly in Solana system. On November 27, Upbit noticed something strange happening and they pressed all emergency measures they have: deposits stopped, withdrawals blocked and customers were told wait for instructions. They moved the leftover funds into cold wallets, almost as if they were quickly packing for a disaster.

The interesting bit seems to be speed that authorities blamed Lazarus Group. The missing amount was barely calculated yet and authorities already decided it was probably North Korea once again. Actually the way the attack was conducted is similar to some activities that Lazarus used with other exchanges, so nobody seemed surprised. And meanwhile Upbit’s parent, Dunamu, was revealing details about a big merger project so people joked that hackers waited exactly for the perfect confusion moment.

The CEO from Upbit had to admit in public there was a security flaw hidden in how their Solana wallet worked. Some issue about private key deduction, whatever that really refers to. It means someone was able to find out things they were not supposed to know. The CEO says the hole is closed now and honestly I hope so since you wonder how many times a business can be embarrassed before changing jobs.

At least Upbit says they are covering all the damage for the users though so that counts something. Customers do not have to pay for the loss. Upbit is absorbing the cost.

But still this case makes you think about why millions are stored on the exchanges. If just an one small error or a hacker appears, suddenly someone’s future money vanishes in the world of blockchain.