Wemix CEO Explains Delay in Hack Disclosure After $6 Million Loss

Highlights:

• Wemix has announced that it delayed announcing the hack to avoid panic among its investors.
• Hackers accessed the Play Bridge Vault and stole over 8.6 million WEMIX tokens
• The company is planning a buyback program that will be carried out in two phases.

Wemix Foundation CEO Kim Seok-hwan has stated that there was no intention to conceal the recent hack on the company’s Play Bridge Vault, which resulted in a loss of approximately $6 million. During a press conference, Kim explained that the announcement was delayed to prevent panic and avoid additional attacks. Hackers accessed the Play Bridge Vault and stole over 8.6 million WEMIX tokens through a successful breach on February 28.

Wemix denies cover-up amid delayed $6.2M bridge hack announcement

Wemix Foundation CEO Kim Seok-hwan said they had no intention of concealing a hack on its bridge, which led to over $6 million in losses.

In a press conference, Kim reportedly said there was no attempt to cov…

— NORQUE-NOQ (@NorqueNoq) March 17, 2025

The company publicly disclosed the hack on March 4, four days after discovering it. Kim said that the decision to delay was made out of caution because they had not yet identified how the system was breached, and further attacks were a concern. He apologized to investors and accepted full responsibility for the delay, adding that he should be held accountable if anything went wrong.

The investors displayed their dissatisfaction with the delayed disclosure and complained about the resulting market ambiguity. The WEMIX token experienced a nearly 40% sell-off immediately after the security breach became known to investors. During this period, the token value declined from $0.70 to $0.42 before stabilizing at $0.58 at press time. The trading volume has gone down 21.50% to $2.14 million. In addition, the market cap has gone down to $244.33 million.

Details of the Attack and Ongoing Investigation

An unknown group of attackers managed to infiltrate Wemix’s NFT platform Nile after stealing an authentication key for monitoring purposes. The attackers spent two months meticulously designing their move while deploying abnormal transaction protocols.

The attackers performed 15 withdrawal attempts that proved successful and distributed 8.65 million WEMIX tokens to foreign exchange markets beyond South Korea. Wemix took immediate action after identifying the breach by shutting down the compromised server while they analyzed the incident.

The foundation reached out to the Cyber Investigation Team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police agency with the incident report during the same day. Kim also said external consultations did not point to the involvement of the North Korean hacking group Lazarus. Authorities are still investigating the matter, while Wemix continues to cooperate fully.

Market Stabilization and Future Measures

Wemix has implemented various market recovery strategies to restore trust and stabilize their token value. Wemix has launched a purchase plan worth $75 million that includes an initial 10 billion won purchase followed by a 16 billion won buy of 20 million WEMIX coins.

Wemix lost $6.22M in a February 28 hacker attack.

CEO Kim Seok-hwan admitted a delayed disclosure but denied a cover-up. Wemix is launching a $75M buyback and plans to resume full services by March 21. pic.twitter.com/WwPsYIAhiB

— Backdoor News (@Backdoor_News) March 17, 2025

He revealed that blockchain operations will move to a safer location before resuming full functionality by Friday. The cyber attack triggered DAXA to classify WEMIX as a warning asset, leading to the suspension of WEMIX deposits across its member crypto exchanges.

CTO Ahn Yong-woon added that such hacks are common in the digital asset space, but they believe proper internal policies and improved exchange security can prevent recurrence. Kim also confirmed that the foundation will track down the attackers and strengthen its crisis response, including how they communicate with investors.