South Korean Exchange GOPAX Halts Trading and Withdrawals After Hack Threat Email
Key Takeaways
- •GOPAX halted trading, deposits, and standard withdrawals on Friday after an email threatened a hack, though no breach or theft attempt had actually occurred.
- •The exchange plans to move all customer crypto assets into offline cold wallets in response to recommendations from financial regulators.
- •South Korean rules require exchanges to keep at least 80% of customer assets in cold storage, and GOPAX held 80.54% offline at the end of September.
- •The suspension came days after the Financial Services Commission urged domestic exchanges to increase cold-wallet holdings following the $6.3 billion Binance hack.
- •Separately, exchange Prabang suspended services after abnormal hot-wallet withdrawals on Oct. 24, reporting losses of roughly $70,000 that it will reimburse using company funds.
South Korean cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX suspended trading, deposits and standard withdrawals on Friday after receiving an email threatening a hack, according to local newspaper Kyunghyang Shinmun. A GOPAX representative told the newspaper that no hack or attempted theft had taken place at that point, making the shutdown a precautionary measure rather than a response to a confirmed breach.
In an official notice, GOPAX said it halted deposits and standard withdrawals at 5:55 am UTC. Trading stopped at 6:53 UTC, according to a second announcement. All unfilled orders were canceled. Neither announcement indicated when full services would be restored.
Citing recommendations from financial regulators, GOPAX said it plans to move all crypto assets into offline wallets to protect users, responding to a string of data leaks and hacking incidents that have hit financial institutions. Cointelegraph contacted GOPAX for comment but had not received a response by publication time.
Customers can still request withdrawals through GOPAX's support center, but the exchange warned that manual verification and approvals could delay processing.
The suspension came days after South Korea's Financial Services Commission (FSC) urged domestic exchanges to raise their cold-wallet holdings in the wake of the $6.3 billion Binance hack. Under South Korean rules, exchanges must hold at least 80% of customer crypto assets in cold storage. Financial Supervisory Service data previously showed GOPAX kept 80.54% of user assets offline at the end of September, close to the required minimum. Completing the planned transfer of all customer assets into offline storage would push the exchange's cold-storage ratio well above that regulatory floor.
In October, the FSC reported cybersecurity deficiencies at 130 of 555 financial companies reviewed nationwide. The regulator also named GOPAX operator Streami and crypto exchange Prabang among 16 companies involved in earlier security incidents, prompting plans for tighter cybersecurity oversight.
Separately, Prabang suspended its services after detecting abnormal withdrawals from its hot wallet on Oct. 24. The exchange reported losses of about 100 million won ($70,000), according to Yonhap News Agency, and said it would reimburse affected customers using company funds.
