Hackers Steal $49 million in Cryptocurrency Exchange Upbit Ethereum

South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Upbit today said hackers could steal $49 million in Ethereum.

On 27 November, the crypto-coins were moved from Upbeat Ethereum Hot Wallet to an unknown wallet, announced Doo-myeon’s CEO Lee Seok-woo who operates Upbit.

In a publication on the Upbit website, the hackers, Seokwoo, disclosed 342,000 ETH (Ethereum), equivalent to approximately $49 million.

“At 1:06 pm, 342,000 ETH, (around 58 billion won), were transferred from the Upbeat Ethereum Hot Wallet to an unknown wallet on November 27, 2019,” reads announcement translation.

Upbit also announced that it will cover the amount transferred to unknown carriers and will keep users informed of the progress of the operation.

The cryptocurrency exchange transferred existing virtual coins from its hot pouch to a cold wallet in order to ensure that the incident was contained.

Hardware-based, cold wallets are considered to be more secure than hot wallets, as they are usually available on devices unavailable from the Internet.

The exchange has now suspended cryptocurrency operations, saying users should expect the funds for the next two weeks to be unavailable. Further information on this will be provided in the future.

“Ethereum is the only trade in bulk transactions, and all the remaining bulk tradings in Hot Wallet have switched to Cold Wallet, as well,” said Seok-woo.

The exchange also published the address of the unknown bag for transferring the cryptocoins to users, advising them not to interact with that baggage.