Bitget confirms $351.6M security breach and suspends withdrawals
Crypto exchange Bitget confirmed unauthorized transfers involving approximately $351.6 million and has temporarily suspended withdrawals. The incident was detected in several hot wallets, triggering emergency security procedures. Deposits and trading operations continue normally, and the exchange pledged regular updates on the ongoing investigation.
Incident Detection and Response
At 18:31 UTC last Thursday, Bitget's security systems detected unauthorized transfers affecting a limited number of hot wallets. This triggered the activation of emergency response protocols. CEO Gracy Chen noted that only some of the exchange’s hot and warm wallets were compromised, while cold wallets remained secure. The platform confirmed user account balances stayed accurate.
As a precaution, withdrawals were temporarily suspended to allow a thorough security review. Bitget flagged the addresses involved in the transfers and contacted law enforcement agencies alongside blockchain security firms for assistance.
User Protection and Next Steps
According to Chen, the entire amount impacted—approximately $351.6 million—is fully covered by Bitget’s User Protection Fund, which holds over $464 million. The exchange vowed to provide hourly updates and to publish a detailed incident report within 24 hours, including root-cause analysis and corrective measures.
Bitget has not revealed details on how the wallets were compromised, citing the ongoing investigation and a commitment to avoid speculation on the attack vector. Meanwhile, deposits and trading remain operational as usual on the platform.
Why it matters
This news is significant as it involves major crypto exchange Bitget and one of the largest security breaches with over $350 million affected. The suspension of withdrawals and investigation highlight the severity of the incident. At the same time, the existence of a user protection fund and continued trading operations help mitigate risks for clients. The event also underscores the ongoing need to strengthen security measures within the cryptocurrency industry.
Prepared from the source material with AI-assisted editing and checked against the supplied facts.
Open original source ↗