Binance Faces Backlash After Slow Freeze in Upbit Hack

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Binance Faces Backlash After Slow Freeze in $36 Million Upbit Hack

Written by Aaron S.,

Editor-In-Chief

Last Updated: December 12, 2025

Key Takeaways

Hackers stole about $36 million in Solana assets from Upbit, which prompted efforts to track and freeze the funds;
Binance froze only $55,000 of the $370,000 requested by police and delayed action by 15 hours;
Experts urged the adoption of faster, unified global systems for emergency freezes to limit losses from hacks.

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Binance Faces Backlash After Slow Freeze in $36 Million Upbit Hack

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A recent cyberattack on Upbit $1.05B , a crypto exchange based in South Korea, has put Binance’s $7.97B emergency fund-freeze policy under review.

On November 27, hackers withdrew about $36 million in Solana-based assets from Upbit. The company reported the incident to authorities and began working with other platforms to block the movement of the stolen funds.

Investigators later asked Binance to freeze around 470 million Korean won (about $370,000) in Solana SOL $133.44 tokens suspected to be connected to the theft.

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According to South Korean broadcaster KBS, Binance only froze about $55,000, roughly 17% of what was requested, and took about 15 hours to act. The exchange said it needed more time to verify the request before taking action.

Cho Jae-woo, who heads the Blockchain Research Institute at Hansung University, explained to KBS that early freezes can help reduce losses after a hack. He noted that exchanges often cite legal risks as a reason for hesitation, but added that a faster and more unified response system could help.

Cho suggested that major exchanges establish a shared hotline for emergencies, which would enable faster cooperation when stolen assets are detected.

Recently, South Korea announced plans to enforce a rule requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to meet the same "no‑fault" standards as banks. What does this rule include? Read the full story.