Upbit founders Song Chi-hyung and Kim Hyoung-nyon became billionaires after selling Dunamu to Naver in a $13.6 billion deal. The acquisition highlights a major corporate play into South Korea’s crypto ecosystem.
Upbit will begin a phased resumption of deposits and withdrawals on December 1, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. KST. The exchange said services will be restored in stages rather than all at once.
Dunamu’s CEO apologized after a security breach at Upbit prompted the exchange to revise its estimated losses tied to Solana-related activity. The incident heightens scrutiny of exchange security and hot-wallet management.
Upbit said it fully repaid 38.6 billion won in user assets using its own reserves after a recent security breach. The exchange says no customer balances were lost.
Solana-based tokens surged on Upbit as a hack that drained about 44.5 billion won ($32M) knocked arbitrage bots offline, letting Korean traders push prices sharply higher. CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju said the outage removed the usual mechanism keeping Korea and global markets in sync.
Upbit suspended deposits and withdrawals for tokens on the Solana network after detecting unusual activity, citing a precautionary pause while it investigates. Users should monitor official Upbit channels for updates and instructions.
Upbit is reportedly considering an appeal after South Korean authorities imposed a $25 million fine over alleged compliance lapses. The move could prolong legal proceedings and shape how regulators enforce rules on crypto platforms.
Dunamu, parent of South Korea’s Upbit exchange, is reportedly exploring a Nasdaq listing after a merger with Naver, a move that could open U.S. investor access to Korea’s crypto market. Details remain preliminary and timing is unclear.
Naver is expected to approve an equity-swap acquisition of Dunamu, operator of crypto exchange Upbit, at its board meeting next week. Dunamu has set a board meeting for Nov. 26, 2025 to finalize the transaction details.