An email brought an exchange to a halt.
South Korea’s GOPAX received an email on the afternoon of November 6 from someone claiming to have hacked it.
There was no confirmation, no funds were lost, and it hadn’t actually been hacked.
But the exchange shut everything down: deposits and withdrawals were suspended at 14:55, trading stopped at 15:53, and all unfilled orders were canceled.
Want to withdraw your coins now? You can only email customer support, wait for a manual review, and slowly make your way through the queue.
When will services resume? There was still no firm word by the morning of November 7, and there’s been no news of a resumption since.
Why such a strong reaction?
Just a week earlier, Binance had been robbed of $6.3 billion. On November 2, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission urgently called exchanges to a meeting and told them to keep more assets in cold wallets.
At the end of September, GOPAX held 80.54% of its assets in cold wallets. The legal minimum is 80%, so it was only just over the line.
When the email arrived, GOPAX simply moved all its coins into cold wallets. It would rather shut down than take a gamble.
By the way, Binance is GOPAX’s largest shareholder, with a 67.45% stake.
After Binance had just been hit, its “child” in South Korea was the first to get spooked and shut down. There’s a bit of dark humor in that.
What does this have to do with you and me?
Keep your coins on a small exchange, and the withdrawal channel can disappear in an instant. You’re left emailing support and waiting in line for a manual review. It’s hard not to feel anxious.
It’s the same with big and small exchanges: if the coins aren’t in your hands, neither is control.
Cold wallets may seem like a hassle in normal times, but when trouble hits, you find out what real security looks like.
Just my personal opinion; not investment advice.
#GOPAXShutdown
South Korea’s GOPAX received an email on the afternoon of November 6 from someone claiming to have hacked it.
There was no confirmation, no funds were lost, and it hadn’t actually been hacked.
But the exchange shut everything down: deposits and withdrawals were suspended at 14:55, trading stopped at 15:53, and all unfilled orders were canceled.
Want to withdraw your coins now? You can only email customer support, wait for a manual review, and slowly make your way through the queue.
When will services resume? There was still no firm word by the morning of November 7, and there’s been no news of a resumption since.
Why such a strong reaction?
Just a week earlier, Binance had been robbed of $6.3 billion. On November 2, South Korea’s Financial Services Commission urgently called exchanges to a meeting and told them to keep more assets in cold wallets.
At the end of September, GOPAX held 80.54% of its assets in cold wallets. The legal minimum is 80%, so it was only just over the line.
When the email arrived, GOPAX simply moved all its coins into cold wallets. It would rather shut down than take a gamble.
By the way, Binance is GOPAX’s largest shareholder, with a 67.45% stake.
After Binance had just been hit, its “child” in South Korea was the first to get spooked and shut down. There’s a bit of dark humor in that.
What does this have to do with you and me?
Keep your coins on a small exchange, and the withdrawal channel can disappear in an instant. You’re left emailing support and waiting in line for a manual review. It’s hard not to feel anxious.
It’s the same with big and small exchanges: if the coins aren’t in your hands, neither is control.
Cold wallets may seem like a hassle in normal times, but when trouble hits, you find out what real security looks like.
Just my personal opinion; not investment advice.
#GOPAXShutdown