Two South Korean exchanges have placed INIT under review following Initia’s security incident. The next decision may lift or extend the caution or end trading support, while the treatment of incoming transfers differs between the platforms.
South Korean crypto exchanges Bithumb and Upbit placed Initia’s INIT token under trading caution on October 26. Bithumb and Upbit cite a security incident whose cause is unexplained or has not been remedied, exposing users to potential harm. INIT deposits and withdrawals remain suspended on both platforms.
The exchanges plan to announce their next decisions during November 23–27. They may lift the caution, extend it or end trading support. Neither has announced a decision to delist INIT or a firm date to reopen transfers.
New designations follow the October 23 attack
Both exchanges introduced the caution at 2 p.m. Korean time on October 26, or 05:00 UTC. Upbit’s notice covers the INIT/BTC and INIT/USDT pairs. Bithumb’s trading-support committee made the decision. The exchange said internal circumstances could change its schedule.
Both platforms had already stopped transfers. Upbit says it stopped INIT deposits and withdrawals at 00:57 Korean time on October 24, equivalent to 15:57 UTC on October 23. Initia had announced on October 23 that its L1 and rollups were halted at 15:41:30 UTC. The October 26 decisions add trading caution to the existing transfer restrictions.
Two different policies for incoming INIT
Bithumb says it cannot process INIT deposits made during the suspension. Even a transfer sent before deposits stopped may not be credited if network congestion or confirmation delays hold it up. The exchange says it will process pending deposits in order when the caution is lifted or trading support ends.
Upbit applies a different rule to funds sent after its notice: INIT will not be credited, and all such deposits will be subject to return. Only withdrawals will reopen when transfer services resume. Upbit will announce the reopening of deposits separately after reviewing the caution. The exchange has not said when services will reopen or when returns will be completed.
| Issue | Bithumb | Upbit |
|---|---|---|
| Current transfers | Deposits and withdrawals suspended | Deposits and withdrawals suspended |
| New deposits | Not processed during suspension; handled in order when caution is lifted or trading support ends | Not credited after the notice; subject to return |
| Reopening | No firm date announced | Withdrawals first; separate notice for deposits |
| Next review | November 23–27; schedule may change | November 23–27; review may be extended |
Caution is not a final delisting decision. Exchanges use the caution period to examine an asset more closely. They decide separately whether to end trading support and when to reopen transfers.
What Initia said about the attack
In its October 24 technical update, Initia said an attacker exploited a script-caching bug in MoveVM at 14:59 UTC on October 23. MoveVM is the environment that executes programs on the network. The flaw let malicious code bypass security checks, and the attacker manipulated MoveVM’s records to credit themselves with unbacked WETH, iUSD and USDC. The team said the corresponding tokens’ recorded total supplies were not changed.
“No native INIT was minted.”
The team said roughly $2.7 million was bridged out before the halt: 105 WETH and about 1.4 million AUSD0 through LayerZero, plus about 1.08 million USDC through Noble and CCTP. In its October 24 update, Initia said the attacker had converted the assets into 1,135.52 ETH and gathered them at one Ethereum address.
Initia’s October 24 post says INIT supply was unchanged and lists the assets moved out of the network.
Network restart and exchange decisions are separate
On October 24, Initia said it expected a fix for the vulnerability to be completed and audited within a few days. The team was working with security partners to recover assets while its L1 and rollups remained halted. It also planned a full post-mortem. The team has yet to announce a firm restart time or say that it has reimbursed users.
Restarting the network would not automatically reopen INIT deposits at either exchange. Each platform must also complete its own review before lifting the caution. Users need to follow their exchange’s transfer notices alongside network updates. Initia also warned against unofficial links and messages circulating during the incident.
