Bitget Hack Affects $351.6 Million; Withdrawals Paused, Trading Remains Open

Crypto exchange Bitget said a hack affected about $351.6 million, prompting the company to pause withdrawals while keeping trading open, and said the loss is fully covered by its user protection fund of more than $464 million.

In a security notice, Bitget said its systems detected unauthorized transfers at 18:31 UTC on Sept. 24. The company said the incident affected parts of its hot and warm wallets, which are internet-connected or readily accessible systems used to process transactions, while cold wallets, which are kept offline, remained secure. Bitget said it had contained the loss and that there was no risk of further outflows.

“At 18:31 UTC on September 24, 2026, Bitget’s security systems detected unauthorized transfers from some of our hot wallets,” the company said. “Estimated funds affected: approximately $351.6 million.”

For customers, the immediate effect was a temporary suspension of withdrawals. Bitget said deposits and trading remained available and that withdrawals would be restored after a security review. The company also said, “User funds are safe. The loss relating to this platform-wide incident falls within the coverage of Bitget’s User Protection Fund, which currently holds over $464 million.”

That public assurance is central to Bitget’s response: the exchange is saying it can absorb one of the larger recent hacks without halting trading or relying on outside support. While the loss is substantial, it is smaller than the theft from Bybit in February 2025, which was widely reported at roughly $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion.

Bitget’s preliminary technical explanation pointed to a compromise of a backend wallet system rather than stolen private keys. According to the company, investigators traced the breach to an attacker who was able to spoof transfer or authorization data and trigger valid signing and transfer flows. That distinction matters because some recent exchange attacks have targeted internal approval or workflow systems instead of directly stealing the cryptographic keys that control wallets. Bitget said private keys were not leaked, and contemporaneous reporting cited CEO Gracy Chen as saying a private key compromise had been ruled out.

The company said it had notified law enforcement and brought in on-chain security firms to help investigate. It also said it would publish a full incident report, including a root-cause analysis, within 24 hours of the notice.

Bitget says it serves more than 125 million users. For those customers, the immediate questions are whether their balances are protected and when withdrawals will resume. Based on the company’s notice, Bitget’s position is that customer funds remain safe, the loss has been contained and the exchange’s protection fund is large enough to cover the estimated damage.

Multiple outlets reported that Chen said a North Korea-linked group was “very likely” responsible, but Bitget had not publicly released forensic proof and there was no formal law enforcement attribution in the reporting available at the time. For now, the confirmed facts are narrower: Bitget says a major breach hit parts of its online wallet infrastructure, withdrawals have been paused as a precaution, and the company is asserting it can fully cover the estimated $351.6 million loss.