South Korea Takes Action Against Dunamu Over $36 Million Upbit Hack

The South Korean Financial Supervisory Service has initiated formal sanctions proceedings against Dunamu, the parent entity of Upbit cryptocurrency exchange.

The move comes after a $36 million hack in November 2025, which left regulators uncertain about the severity of penalties they can impose on the exchange due to a lack of provisions for hacking penalties in current laws.

Dunamu responded to the hack by reimbursing affected users from its reserve and froze around $1.7 million in an attempt to recover the stolen funds, but was criticized for disclosing the exploit after a merger event with Naver Financial had been completed.