What happened
Early on December 19, 2017 (Korean time), hackers broke into the hot wallet of South Korean exchange Youbit and took about 17% of its total assets. Youbit is run by Yapian, and this was its second breach of the year: as Yapizon, it had lost 3,816 BTC in April 2017. Youbit stopped trading the same day and said it would file for bankruptcy.
Customers could withdraw about 75% of their balances at once, with the rest to be settled in the bankruptcy. Youbit said it would try to cover losses with a 3 billion won cyber-insurance policy and by selling its operating rights. The insurer, DB Insurance, later denied the claim.
South Korean investigators looked into possible North Korean involvement, and an AlienVault researcher suspected the Lazarus subgroup BlueNoroff. No official attribution for the December attack was confirmed in the sources reviewed. The exchange was sold and relaunched as Coinbin in March 2018.
Protocol details
Evidence
- analysis Hacked Cryptocurrency Exchange Youbit Re-Emerges Amid Insurance Controversy news.bitcoin.com
- analysis DeFiLlama defillama.com
- analysis Bitcoin Exchange Youbit to Declare Bankruptcy After Hack coindesk.com
- analysis After Second Hack This Year, South Korean Exchange Youbit Closes Down bitcoinmagazine.com
- analysis Bitcoin Exchange Shuts Down After Getting Hacked a Second Time This Year bleepingcomputer.com
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