Bithumb Hack Shakes Investors’ Confidence: “Only Upbit is left”

The fallout from yesterday’s USD 32 million hack on South Korean major exchange Bithumb has been less severe than expected, however, the incident has dealt a major blow to investor confidence, say media reports in the country.

Media analysts and web users alike have concluded: “Only Upbit is left.”

Upbit is Bithumb’s largest competitor and is yet to suffer a hacking attack. However, the former has also suffered issues of its own – and is being investigated for suspected financial irregularities.

Upbit says it is stepping up its level of preparedness in the wake of the Bithumb hack, with an official telling Joongang Ilbo, “We are making a thorough response to [the increased level of threat].”

Meanwhile, prices initially fell when the news of the hack broke on June 20, at around midday. However, by 6:30pm, Bitcoin and altcoin prices at South Korean exchanges had made an almost complete recovery. Per News1, the price drop was not particularly sizeable “because the size of the hack was relatively speaking, not very large, and the assets that were hacked did not belong to customers, but to trading sites.”

24 hours trading volume on Bithumb has dropped from USD 380 million a day ago, to USD 219 million, according to coinmarketcap.com.

MBC News quotes Kim Tae-bong, the CEO of cybersecurity company KTB Solution, as saying, “Most exchanges have a weak level of security. They seem to be lagging behind in that respect. Their security is not even on a par with the levels at small savings banks.”