April 24, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] One of Korea’s cryptocurrency markets, YouBit, was forced to shut down on Dec. 19 after a hacking attack, the exchange said.

Hackers stole about 17 percent of YouBit‘s cryptocurrencies in the attack, which happened at 4:35 a.m., the exchange said in a statement posted on its website.

YouBit did not reveal the value of the stolen cryptocurrencies.

“To minimize the damages of our customers, we will allow them to withdraw about 75 percent of the balance,” the statement said, adding the exchange was “very sorry” for the shutdown.

The remaining crypto assets were unharmed because they were stored in “cold wallet,” a way of storing cryptocurrencies offline, YouBit said.

YouBit, formerly known as Yapizon, had been hit by a hack attack in April, when hackers stole 5.5 billion won (US$5.06 million) worth of cryptocurrencies, according to local media reports.

Officials at YouBit were not immediately available for comment.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)