Binance Denies Allegations of Slow Reaction in Upbit Hacking Incident

Binance has countered allegations that it did not act promptly in freezing funds associated with last month’s Upbit hack, dismissing reports that it only partially fulfilled requests from South Korean officials.

Key Takeaways:

• Binance refutes claims of delay or partial compliance regarding the freezing of Upbit hack funds.
• The exchange asserts it acted swiftly and continues to collaborate with law enforcement on the matter.
• South Korean authorities claim that only a small percentage of the stolen assets were frozen as hackers quickly laundered the funds.

In a statement provided to Cryptonews, a Binance representative stated that the notion of a delayed or limited response is incorrect.

“Binance’s security and investigations teams recognized the incident and promptly took steps to aid in freezing related transfers and preventing further movements,” the representative stated.

Binance Claims It Responded Quickly and Collaborated with Law Enforcement

The exchange further noted that it has been in close cooperation with law enforcement and other relevant entities since the incident occurred.

“We continue to closely monitor the situation and offer support as necessary,” the representative emphasized, asserting that any claims implying Binance did not act swiftly or effectively are “unfounded and incorrect.”

This response follows a report released last week referencing South Korean investigators, who alleged that Binance froze only a minor portion of the funds taken during the Upbit breach.

Local media reported that authorities indicated approximately 17% of the assets earmarked for freezing were ultimately secured.

Investigators claim that the hackers involved in the attack acted quickly, spreading the stolen funds across over a thousand wallets within hours of the breach on Nov. 27.

Korean authorities say @Binance froze only a small portion of the crypto stolen during last month’s @Official_Upbit hack.#SouthKorea #Binancehttps://t.co/o5VVQN9tYp

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 12, 2025

Security experts indicated that the group employed a mix of chain hopping, token swaps, and bridges to obscure transaction trails, a strategy that complicated recovery efforts.

Authorities noted that a considerable portion of the laundered assets eventually reached service wallets on Binance.

Upbit and law enforcement reportedly requested an immediate freeze on approximately 470 million won (around $370,000) worth of Solana tokens believed to have entered the exchange.

Of that total, about 80 million won (approximately $75,000) was frozen, with Binance citing the necessity for further verification before taking broader action, according to previous statements by Korean authorities.

Upbit Transfers 99% of Customer Assets to Cold Storage Following $30M Hack

As previously reported, Upbit is transferring nearly all customer assets into cold storage after hackers stole 44.5 billion won (approximately $30 million) from its Solana hot wallet, representing one of the most robust security responses by a major exchange to date.

Operator Dunamu stated that the platform will increase its cold wallet ratio to 99% and minimize hot wallet exposure to nearly zero, significantly exceeding South Korea’s legal requirement that 80% of user funds be stored offline.

The exchange already maintained 98.33% of assets in cold storage at the end of October, the highest among domestic platforms, but expedited its overhaul following the breach.

Meanwhile, South Korean authorities have initiated an investigation, and local reports have mentioned early intelligence assessments that allegedly link the intrusion to North Korea’s Lazarus Group.

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