- Gopax froze assets as a precaution, confirming no customer funds were stolen.
- The exchange said it took emergency measures to protect customer funds, with no reported asset losses.
- FSC reports that hacking exposed data for 470k users across 37 Korean financial firms.
Gopax, a crypto exchange in South Korea, suspended customer withdrawals and trading on November 6 after getting an email that threatened a hack.
The exchange said it was taking emergency steps to protect customer funds. At the time of the announcement, no actual assets had been reported lost.
Local reports say Gopax first paused crypto deposits and withdrawals around 2:55 PM local time. Trading was stopped later, at about 3:53 PM, and all open unfilled orders were canceled.
Reportedly, Gopax got an email from a group claiming it had pulled off a hack. Even though the exchange hadn’t confirmed the threat was real, it chose to lock things down rather than risk customers’ funds.
So, Gopax is shifting its crypto from hot wallets into cold wallets. Customers can still ask for withdrawals through the support center, but each one has to be checked and approved by hand, so it may take longer than normal.
There’s no word yet on when regular services will be back.
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Previous Security Incidents Raise Concerns
The halt follows earlier security issues at Gopax. About a month ago, unusual access to some accounts exposed personal data from seven customers and two current or former staff.
Interestingly, on October 24, Prabang, another crypto exchange based in South Korea, paused all platform services after flagging suspicious transfers out of its hot wallet.
So far, investigators haven’t found any clear link between earlier security issues and this latest threatening email.
At the same time, South Korea’s financial sector is under growing pressure from hackers. According to the country’s top financial regulator, FSC (Financial Services Commission), 37 different financial institutions have recently been hit, exposing the personal data of around 470,000 customers.
Recently, financial regulators in South Korea have been pressing local crypto platforms to better protect user funds by keeping more assets safely offline. The exchanges are already required to store at least 80% of customer crypto in offline cold wallets to prevent hacking.
Following the latest security scare, officials are likely to demand even tougher security measures and more frequent safety audits to keep users’ money safe.
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Related: South Korea Seeks Two-Year Reprieve for Crypto Traders as 22% Gains Tax Slips to 2029
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