GOPAX hits the panic button: South Korean crypto trading halts as hackers claim breach

SEOUL, November 7 — In an unprecedented move, South Korean cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX declared a halt to withdrawals and trading amid hacking threats, according to Yonhap News Agency. The decision, made in the afternoon, saw the exchange transferring a majority of its assets from its hot wallets, which are connected to the internet, to cold wallets that are offline.

Trading was suspended around 3:53 pm. Despite not yet confirming the authenticity of the hacking threat, GOPAX took these precautionary steps to safeguard customer assets. There have been no reported losses of funds. Additionally, the company temporarily halted the deposit of virtual assets and disabled standard withdrawals via its website and mobile application.

All pending orders were canceled after the trading suspension. "We received an email from a group claiming to have hacked the exchange, but we have yet to verify whether the threat is genuine," said a company official, speaking on condition of anonymity. Given the recent surge in cybersecurity incidents within the South Korean financial sector, the Financial Services Commission reported that 37 institutions had experienced cybersecurity breaches, impacting approximately 470,000 customer records.