Upbit Drops BONK After $20M Hack; Bithumb Relists Token

- Upbit delists Solana-based meme coin BONK over unresolved risks from $20 million BonkDAO hack - Bithumb relists BONK, highlighting differing risk standards among Korean exchanges On September 6, 2026, Cryptopolitan reported that Upbit will delist the Solana-based meme coin BONK at 15:00 KST on September 7, 2026. The exchange cited unresolved security and disclosure failures tied to the $20 million BonkDAO treasury hack. BONK asserted that only its DAO treasury was compromised, and the project emphasized that user funds were not directly affected. However, Upbit determined that lingering risks and what it viewed as inadequate disclosures justified delisting. In contrast, on the same day, Cryptopolitan reported that domestic rival Bithumb lifted its caution status on BONK and resumed trading after conducting an independent review. Therefore, its decision underlined diverging interpretations of risk management among Korean exchanges, even though they operate within the same broad regulatory framework. Both exchanges operate under the Digital Asset eXchange Alliance (DAXA) Best Practices for Listing Virtual Assets, and they are expected to apply consistent baseline standards. However, the incident spotlights the flexibility in regulatory enforcement and how individual exchanges interpret those standards. Upbit flagged ongoing risks from the July hack and a perceived lack of transparency by BONK’s operators, while Bithumb’s risk assessment instead cleared the asset for trading, signaling different approaches to security and listing standards. As a result of these divergent decisions, BONK has experienced sharp volatility in price and trading activity. On August 27, 2026, BeInCrypto reported that BONK fell to $0.00000313, down roughly 95% from its November 2024 peak, as market confidence weakened. Furthermore, Upbit’s delisting announcement triggered new waves of selling, which restricted Korean retail access to BONK and could further impact liquidity and sentiment in one of the project’s biggest local markets. Nevertheless, BONK continues to trade on global platforms including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, thereby providing alternative markets for international investors. On September 6, 2026, Cryptopolitan reported that, as of 23:08 UTC, BONK was trading at $0.00000325, with 24-hour trading volume up 4.648% according to the latest market data.