According to a report by South Korean broadcaster KBS, Binance only froze a portion of the funds that the police claimed were related to the hacking incident against Upbit, one of South Korea's largest exchanges, on November 27.
KBS reported on Friday that investigators requested Binance to freeze approximately 470 million won (about $370,000) worth of Solana (SOL) tokens, which are believed to be related to the incident. However, the exchange ultimately froze only about $55,000 (approximately 17% of the requested amount) after a delay of 15 hours.
The report noted that Binance stated it needed to conduct additional verification in response to the police request.
The hacking incident resulted in Upbit suffering unauthorized withdrawals of approximately $36 million in Solana-based assets, prompting the police to formally launch an investigation, while the exchange tracked and attempted to freeze the stolen funds across multiple platforms.
KBS quoted Cho Jae-woo, director of the Blockchain Research Institute at Seoul National University, who said that a swift initial freeze is crucial for minimizing losses in hacking incidents. However, exchanges often resist such requests, using litigation risk as an "excuse." He added that establishing a global hotline with emergency freeze authority between exchanges would help mitigate damage.
This incident has raised concerns about how large centralized exchanges would actually respond to requests from foreign law enforcement agencies to freeze assets suspected of being related to hacking incidents.
A spokesperson for Upbit told Cointelegraph that they could not comment on the events reported by KBS; however, they emphasized that local law enforcement is "actively investigating" to confirm the identity of the attackers.
In a statement provided to Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson said that they cannot comment on this matter due to policy but confirmed their ongoing commitment to "collaborate with relevant agencies and partners when appropriate."
The spokesperson stated that Binance responds to all law enforcement requests only through official channels and works closely with global agencies to support investigations into illegal activities.
Upbit stated that they will provide further updates once there is new progress.
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Original article: “Upbit Hacking Incident Puts Binance's Emergency Freeze Policy Under Scrutiny”
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