Bitget Restarts Withdrawals in Phases After $388 Million Hack, Targets Full Recovery by Oct. 2
Summary
- Bitget said it is gradually restoring withdrawals after a hack worth about $388 million, starting with Bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals.
- It said Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), the remaining crypto-asset and fiat-currency withdrawals, and P2P trading will be restored in stages by Oct. 2.
- The exchange said the full loss from the hack will be covered by its user protection fund, and that it is running a bounty program that will pay 5% of recovered funds to tipsters who help freeze or recover the stolen assets.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
Crypto exchange Bitget has begun restoring withdrawal services in phases after suspending them following a hack that stole about $388 million.
The Block reported on Sept. 28 that Bitget resumed Bitcoin withdrawals at 8 a.m. UTC through the Bitcoin and BNB Smart Chain networks. The exchange said it is restoring withdrawals sequentially after completing security checks on each network.
Ethereum withdrawals will resume at 8 a.m. UTC on Sept. 29 across the Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Arbitrum, Base and Optimism networks. Tether withdrawals will restart at the same time on Sept. 30 on the Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, Solana and Tron networks. Withdrawals for the remaining crypto assets and fiat currencies, as well as peer-to-peer trading, are scheduled to be restored by Oct. 2.
The incident surfaced on Sept. 24, when abnormal fund transfers were detected from Bitget's hot and warm wallets across multiple networks. According to Bitget, the attacker exploited a vulnerability in a third-party security product used by the exchange, obtained a high level of internal access, and sent fraudulent withdrawal instructions to the wallet system to bypass risk controls.
Bitget confirmed that $388 million in crypto assets was stolen in the attack. It described the breach as the largest crypto hack reported this year. Private keys were not compromised, and customer account balances and cold wallets were unaffected, the exchange said. The vulnerability has been patched, and no additional unauthorized transfers have been reported.
The exchange said it will cover the full loss through its user protection fund, which holds 5,500 Bitcoin. It is also operating a bounty program that will pay 5% of recovered funds to tipsters who directly help freeze or recover the stolen assets. Bitget said some assets have already been frozen through industry cooperation, but it did not disclose the amount.
Bitget is investigating the incident with support from Mandiant, a Google Cloud-owned security firm, and blockchain security company SlowMist. It plans to release an official security report this week. The exchange has raised the possibility that a sophisticated state-backed hacking group was involved and had previously said it suspected North Korea. The attacker's identity has not been confirmed.
