SEOUL, Nov 7 — South Korean cryptocurrency exchange GOPAX said Friday it had suspended withdrawals and trading as an emergency measure following hacking threats, Yonhap News Agency reported.

The exchange said it halted withdrawals at 2.55pm and was transferring most of the assets held in its so-called hot wallets to cold wallets, which are not connected to the internet.

It also suspended trading at around 3.53pm.

GOPAX said it had yet to verify the credibility of the hacking threat but had taken precautionary action to protect customers’ assets.

No actual loss of assets had been reported, it added.

The company also temporarily suspended virtual asset deposits and disabled regular withdrawals through its website and mobile app, it said.

All outstanding orders were cancelled following the suspension of trading.

“We received an email from a group claiming to have hacked the exchange, but we have yet to verify whether the threat is genuine,” a company official, who asked not to be named, said.

“We are prioritising the protection of customers’ assets, even if this causes inconvenience to users.”

The South Korean financial sector has recently been hit by a series of cybersecurity incidents.

The Financial Services Commission earlier said it had confirmed cybersecurity incidents at 37 financial institutions, affecting about 470,000 customer records. — Bernama-Yonhap